Introductory Remarks
Thoughts on African Colonization (1832)
Context: Little boldness is needed to assail the opinions and practices of notoriously wicked men; but to rebuke great and good men for their conduct, and to impeach their discernment, is the highest effort of moral courage. The great mass of mankind shun the labor and responsibility of forming opinions for themselves. The question is not — what is true? but — what is popular? Not — what does God say? but — what says the public? Not — what is my opinion? but — what do others believe?
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 105.
§ 5
From Lives and Opinions of the Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laërtius
Source: The Souls of Black Folk (1903), Ch. XII: Of Alexander Crummell
Ten Sermons of Religion (1853), III : Of Justice and the Conscience https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ten_Sermons_of_Religion/Of_Justice_and_the_Conscience
Context: Justice is moral temperance in the world of men. It keeps just relations between men; one man, however little, must not be sacrificed to another, however great, to a majority, or to all men. It holds the balance betwixt nation and nation, for a nation is but a larger man; betwixt a man and his family, tribe, nation, race; between mankind and God. It is the universal regulator which coordinates man with man, each with all, — me with the ten hundred millions of men, so that my absolute rights and theirs do not interfere, nor our ultimate interests ever clash, nor my eternal welfare prove antagonistic to the blessedness of all or any one. I am to do justice, and demand that of all, — a universal human debt, a universal human claim.
Lecture IX : On the Conduct of the Understanding
Elementary Sketches of Moral Philosophy (1849)
“All too often men with physical courage are disappointing in their moral imagination.”
Superman Comes to the Supermarket (1960)
“Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men.”
Statement on the successful filibuster by anti-war Senators against a bill to arm merchant ships (4 March 1917)
1910s
Salon interview (2001)
“Men don't need linguistic talent; they just need courage and words.”
Source: Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love
