“Humanity's true moral test, its fundamental test…consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals.”

Last update May 21, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Humanity's true moral test, its fundamental test…consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals." by Milan Kundera?
Milan Kundera photo
Milan Kundera 198
Czech author of Czech and French literature 1929–2023

Related quotes

Milan Kundera photo

“Humanity's true moral test, its fundamental test, consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect humankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it.”

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984), as quoted in Milan Kundera (2003) by Harold Bloom, [//books.google.it/books?id=SXDojRJFMPIC&pg=PA91 p. 91]
Context: True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power. Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude toward those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it.

Richard D. Ryder photo
Dietrich Bonhoeffer photo

“The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) German Lutheran pastor, theologian, dissident anti-Nazi

Variant: The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.

Jerome Frank photo

“The test of the moral quality of a civilization is its treatment of the weak and powerless.”

Jerome Frank (1889–1957) American jurist

United States ex rel. Caminito v. Murphy, 222 F.2d 698, 706 (1955).

J. William Fulbright photo

“In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not its taste, but its effect, …”

J. William Fulbright (1905–1995) American politician

p. 25 http://books.google.com/books?id=Td-qAAAAIAAJ&q=%22In+a+democracy+dissent+is+an+act+of+faith+Like+medicine+the+test+of+its+value+is+not+its+taste+but+its+effect%22&pg=PA25#v=onepage
The Arrogance of Power (1966)

Richard Dawkins photo

“So-called alternative medicine either hasn’t been tested or it has failed its tests.”

Richard Dawkins (1941) English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author

The Enemies of Reason (August 2007)
Context: If any remedy is tested under controlled scientific conditions and proved to be effective, it will cease to be alternative and will simply become medicine. So-called alternative medicine either hasn’t been tested or it has failed its tests.

M.J. Akbar photo

“The true test of a democracy is the justice that the minority gets in the system. The majority will always get its share whatever the system.”

M.J. Akbar (1951) journalist, author

Illustrated Weekly of India, 22/12/1990. Quoted from Elst, Koenraad (1991). Ayodhya and after: Issues before Hindu society.

Rutherford B. Hayes photo

“One of the tests of the civilization of people is the treatment of its criminals.”

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822–1893) American politician, 19th President of the United States (in office from 1877 to 1881)

Diary (30 October 1892)
Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1922 - 1926)

Ralph Waldo Trine photo

Related topics