Source: Death in the Afternoon (1932), Ch. 1
“What is morality in any given time or place? It is what the majority then and there happen to like, and immorality is what they dislike.”
Source: Attributed from posthumous publications, Dialogues of Alfred North Whitehead (1954), Ch. 22, August 30, 1941.
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Alfred North Whitehead 112
English mathematician and philosopher 1861–1947Related quotes
Source: A Letter to a Hindu (1908), III
Context: In former times the chief method of justifying the use of violence and thereby infringing the law of love was by claiming a divine right for the rulers: the Tsars, Sultans, Rajahs, Shahs, and other heads of states. But the longer humanity lived the weaker grew the belief in this peculiar, God-given right of the ruler. That belief withered in the same way and almost simultaneously in the Christian and the Brahman world, as well as in Buddhist and Confucian spheres, and in recent times it has so faded away as to prevail no longer against man's reasonable understanding and the true religious feeling. People saw more and more clearly, and now the majority see quite clearly, the senselessness and immorality of subordinating their wills to those of other people just like themselves, when they are bidden to do what is contrary not only to their interests but also to their moral sense.
“I don't care what the editor likes or dislikes, I care what the people like.”
Mickey Spillane
(1918–2006) American writer
Crime Time interview (2001)
“Agreement in likes and dislikes—this, and this only, is what constitutes true friendship.”
Idem velle atque idem nolle, ea demum firma amicitia est.
Catiline
(-109–-62 BC) ancient Roman Senator
As quoted by Sallust (86 BC – c. 35 BC) in Catiline's War, Book XX, pt. 4 (trans. J. C. Rolfe).
Variant translations:
To like and dislike the same things, that is indeed true friendship.
To like the same things and to dislike the same things, only this is a strong friendship.
J. C. Watts
(1957) American politician
Delivering the Republican Party response to President Bill Clinton's "State of the Union" Address (1997-02-04)
Zisi
(-481–-402 BC) Chinese philosopher
Opening lines, p. 104
Variant translations:
What is God-given is called nature; to follow nature is called Tao (the Way); to cultivate the Way is called culture.
As translated by Lin Yutang in The Importance of Living (1937), p. 143
What is God-given is called human nature.
To fulfill that nature is called the moral law (Tao).
The cultivation of the moral law is called culture.
As translated by Lin Yutang in From Pagan to Christian (1959), p. 85
The Doctrine of the Mean
Erle Stanley Gardner
(1889–1970) Lawyer, novelist, travel writer
Source: The Case Of The Careless Cupid