Civilized Society Quotes

• No civilized society can long exist, with an active power in its bosom that is stronger than the law.

  James F. Cooper

  Reality, Law, Long

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• The necessary consequence of man's right to life is his right to self-defense. In a civilized society, force may be used only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use. All the reasons which make the initiation of physical force an evil, make the retaliatory use of physical force a moral imperative. If some "pacifist" society renounced the retaliatory use of force, it would be left helplessly at the mercy of the first thug who decided to be immoral. Such a society would achieve the opposite of its intention: instead of abolishing evil, it would encourage and reward it.

  Ayn Rand

  Thug, Men, Self

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• The triumph of persuasion over force is the sign of a civilized society.

  Mark Skousen

  Liberty, Libertarian, Triumph

  "Civilization Held Together by Persuasion, Not Force". The Religion & Liberty Interview, acton.org. July 20, 2010.

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• I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Law, Hands, Mind

  Thomas Jefferson (1998). “Thomas Jefferson: His Words and Vision”, p.18, Peter Pauper Press, Inc.

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• Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.

  Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

  Paying Taxes, Pay, Taxes

  "Compania General De Tabacos De Filipinas v. Collector of Internal Revenue, 275 U.S. 87, 100". Dissenting opinion, November 21, 1927.

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• There is no kind of harassment that a man may not inflict on a woman with impunity in civilized societies.

  Denis Diderot

  Men, Literature, May

  Denis Diderot (1966). “Selected Writings”, New York : Macmillan

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  I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and Constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Change, Peace, Boys

  Thomas Jefferson (1997). “Thomas Jefferson, His Words and Vision”, p.18, Peter Pauper Press, Inc.

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• Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure.

  Mark Skousen

  Taxation, Levels, Pay

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• Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success.

  Mark Skousen

  Failure, Pay, Ultimate Success

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• Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. . . . We might as well require a man to wear the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain forever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Boys, Men, Hands

  Letter to Samuel Kercheval, 12 July 1816

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• Laws and Institutions Must Go Hand in Hand with the Progress of the Human Mind.

  Francis Bacon

  Hands, Law, Mind

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• As new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Discovery, Pace, Opinion

  Thomas Jefferson (1998). “Thomas Jefferson: His Words and Vision”, p.18, Peter Pauper Press, Inc.

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• The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.

  Fyodor Dostoevsky

  Honesty, Integrity, Character

  The House of the Dead (1862) (translation by Constance Garnett) See Pearl S. Buck 2; Ramsey Clark 1; Humphrey 3; Samuel Johnson 69; Helen Keller 4

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• Schools and libraries are the twin cornerstones of a civilized society. Libraries are only good if people use them, like books only exist when someone reads them.

  Nicholas Meyer

  Book, School, People

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• A civilized society is one which tolerates eccentricity to the point of doubtful sanity.

  Robert Frost

  Crazy, Mad, Society

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• Civilized society is perpetually menaced with disintegration through this primary hostility of men towards one another.

  Sigmund Freud

  Peace, War, Men

  Sigmund Freud (1930). “Civilization and Its Discontents”, p.40, Courier Dover Publications

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• With every cell of my being and with every fiber of my memory I oppose the death penalty in all forms. I do not believe any civilized society should be at the service of death. I don't think it's human to become an agent of the angel of death.

  Elie Wiesel

  Memories, Believe, Angel

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• Taxes are what we pay for civilized society

  Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

  Political, Society, Paying Taxes

  Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas v. Collector of Internal Revenue (dissenting opinion) (1927)

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• I think, certainly in the more civilized societies, women's roles are growing in power all of the time.

  Sally Quinn

  Thinking, Roles, Growing

  "Sally Quinn on Author Karen Armstrong". Online Chat, www.washingtonpost.com. March 29, 2006.

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• I believe that free and civilized societies do not hold prisoners incommunicado.

  Tom McClintock

  Believe, Prisoner, I Believe

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• In a civilized society, all crimes are likely to be sins, but most sins are not and ought not to be treated as crimes. Man's ultimate responsibility is to God alone.

  Geoffrey Fisher

  Responsibility, Men, Sin

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• Kindness and compassion towards all living things is a mark of a civilized society. Conversely, cruelty, whether it is directed against human beings or against animals, is not the exclusive province of any one culture or community of people.

  Cesar Chavez

  Kindness, Animal, Compassion

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• Poverty does not belong in civilized human society. Its proper place is in a museum. That's where it will be.

  Muhammad Yunus

  Museums, Doe, Poverty

  Twitter post from Jan 30, 2012

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• Bulls can do nothing to demand justice. They can only defend themselves as best they can in a fight with a pre-determined ending and die never knowing why they were forced to endure such a painful and prolonged death. It's up to us, as a civilized society, to call for an end to the Running of the Bulls and bullfighting.

  Ingrid Newkirk

  Running, Fighting, Knowing

  "Running of the Bulls: A Festival Worth Fleeing From" by Ingrid Newkirk, www.huffingtonpost.com. July 7, 2011.

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• Thousands of years ago the question was asked: "Am I my brother's keeper?" That question has never yet been answered in a way that is satisfactory to civilized society.

  Eugene V. Debs

  Brother, Years, Way

  "The Issue". Eugene V. Debs' speech in Girard, Kansas, May 23, 1908.

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