Relativism Quotes

• Today there seems to be only one absolute thing: relativism.

  Joseph Goebbels

  Today, Absolutes, Seems

  "Michael: a German fate in diary notes". Book by Joseph Goebbels, 1929.

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• We should challenge the relativism that tells us there is no right or wrong, when every instinct of our mind knows it is not so, and is a mere excuse to allow us to indulge in what we believe we can get away with. A world without values quickly becomes a world without value.

  Jonathan Sacks

  Believe, Indulge In, Challenges

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• The idea of cultural relativism is nothing but an excuse to violate human rights.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Rights, Ideas, Cultural Relativism

  Interview with Amitabh Pal, progressive.org. September 1, 2004.

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• The American elite ... is almost beyond redemption. Moral relativism has set in so deeply that the gilded classes have become incapable of discerning right from wrong. Everything can be explained away, especially by journalists. Life is one great moral mush -- sophistry washed down with Chardonnay.

  Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

  Class, Redemption, Sophistry

  Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (1997). “The Secret Life of Bill Clinton: The Unreported Stories”, Regnery Pub

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• What the historian Elie Kedourie called "the Chatham House Version" - that toxic amalgam of smugness, moral relativism, and cherished feelings of guilt about the achievements of Western civilization - everywhere nurtured the catechism of established opinion.

  Roger Kimball

  Civilization, House, Achievement

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• No culture in history has ever embraced moral relativism and survived. Our own culture, therefore, will either (1) be the first, and disprove history's clearest lesson, or (2) persist in its relativism and die, or (3) repent of its relativism and live. There is no other option.

  Peter Kreeft

  Culture, Lessons, Firsts

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• Most relativists believe that relativism is absolutely true and that everyone should be a relativist. Therin lies the self-destructive nature of relativism. The relativist stands on the pinnacle of an absolute truth and wants to relativize everything else.

  Norman Geisler

  Lying, Believe, Self

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• In argument about moral problems, relativism is the first refuge of the scoundrel.

  Roger Scruton

  Firsts, Moral, Argument

  Roger Scruton (2012). “Modern Philosophy: An Introduction and Survey”, p.42, A&C Black

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• If relativism signifies contempt for fixed categories and those who claim to be the bearers of objective immortal truth, then there is nothing more relativistic than Fascist attitudes and activity. From the fact that all ideologies are of equal value, we Fascists conclude that we have the right to create our own ideology and to enforce it with all the energy of which we are capable.

  Benito Mussolini

  Attitude, Energy, Facts

  "Rational Man : A Modern Interpretation of Aristotelian Ethics". Book by H. B. Veatch, 1962.

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• Muslims stand by their religion entirely. It is a sort of religious absolutism. While Europeans have stopped defending the values of their civilization. They confuse tolerance with relativism.

  Bassam Tibi

  Religious, Civilization, Tolerance

  Source: www.spiegel.de

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• The relativism which is not willing to speak about truth but only about ‘what is true for me’ is an evasion of the serious business of living. It is the mark of a tragic loss of nerve in our contemporary culture. It is a preliminary symptom of death.

  Lesslie Newbigin

  Loss, Serious Business, Culture

  Lesslie Newbigin (2013). “The Gospel in a Pluralist Society: SPCK Classic”, p.36, SPCK

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• The problem is that relativism provides no sure foundation for a safe and orderly society.

  Charles Colson

  Foundation, Safe, Problem

  Charles Colson, Nancy Pearcey (2011). “How Now Shall We Live?”, p.525, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

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• The knife of historical relativism... which has cut to pieces all metaphysics and religion must also bring about healing.

  Wilhelm Dilthey

  Healing, Cutting, Knives

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• The American elite is almost beyond redemption. . . . Moral relativism has set in so deeply that the gilded classes have become incapable of discerning right from wrong. Everything can be explained away, especially by journalists. Life is one great moral mush--sophistry washed down with Chardonnay. The ordinary citizens, thank goodness, still adhere to absolutes.... It is they who have saved the republic from creeping degradation while their 'betters' were derelict.

  Charles Dickens

  Class, Ordinary, Citizens

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• Today, having a clear faith based on the Creed of the Church is often labeled today as fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, that is, letting oneself be "tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine," seems the only attitude that can cope with modern times.

  Pope Benedict XVI

  Attitude, Teaching, Wind

  "Homily of His Eminence Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Dean of the College of Cardinals". Remarks by Pope Benedict XVI during a Mass at St. Peter's Basilica before the conclave of cardinals, www.vatican.va. April 18, 2005.

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• Relativism is neither a method of fighting, nor a method of creating, for both of these are uncompromising and at times even ruthless; rather, it is a method of cognition.

  Karel Capek

  Fighting, Creating, Literature

  "On Relativism". Book by Karel Capek, 1925.

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• In an age of relativism, orthodoxy is the only possible rebellion left

  Peter Kreeft

  Age, Orthodoxy, Rebellion

  Peter Kreeft (1992). “Back to Virtue: Traditional Moral Wisdom for Modern Moral Confusion”, p.189, Ignatius Press

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• An effective proclamation of the Gospel in contemporary Western society will need to confront directly the widespread spirit of agnosticism and relativism which has cast doubt on reason's ability to know the truth, which alone satisfies the human heart's restless quest for meaning.

  Pope John Paul II

  God, Heart, Doubt

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• The tyranny of relativism is the spiritual poverty of our time

  Pope Francis

  Spiritual, Evil, Poverty

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• We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires.
  We, however, have a different goal: the Son of God, the true man. He is the measure of true humanism. An "adult" faith is not a faith that follows the trends of fashion and the latest novelty; a mature adult faith is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ.

  Pope Benedict XVI

  Moving, Catholic, Ego

  Pope Benedict XVI's Homily during a Mass at St. Peter's Basilica before the conclave of cardinals, www.vatican.va. April 18, 2005.

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• Once you depart from the Ten Commandments, you have relativism, humanism, the abandonment of absolutes. You have anything. How long before child pornography is mainstream?

  Randall Terry

  Children, Long, Abandonment

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• We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires.

  Pope Benedict XVI

  Moving, Goal, Ego

  "Profile: Pope Benedict XVI". www.foxnews.com. April 19, 2005.

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• Relativism is not indifference; on the contrary, passionate indifference is necessary in order for you not to hear the voices that oppose your absolute decrees...

  Karel Capek

  Order, Voice, Passionate

  "On Relativism" by Karel Capek, 1925.

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• Moral relativism has a reputation for being compassionate, caring and humane, but it is an extremely useful philosophy for tyrants.

  Peter Kreeft

  Philosophy, Caring, Moral Absolutism

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• You cannot have a boundary-less existence, because your neighbor has his own boundaries, and who is going to give you the ethics between the two boundaries? If there is no objective moral law, relativism will take hold, and relativism ultimately will lead to self-destruction.

  Ravi Zacharias

  Two, Self, Law

  Source: rzim.org

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