Six Principles of Political Realism, § 4.
Politics Among Nations (1948)
Context: Realism maintains that universal moral principles cannot be applied to the actions of states in their abstract universal formulation, but that they must be filtered through the concrete circumstances of time and place. The individual may say for himself: "Fiat justitia, pereat mundus (Let justice be done, even if the world perish)," but the state has no right to say so in the name of those who are in its care. Both individual and state must judge political action by universal moral principles, such as that of liberty. Yet while the individual has a moral right to sacrifice himself in defense of such a moral principle, the state has no right to let its moral disapprobation of the infringement of liberty get in the way of successful political action, itself inspired by the moral principle of national survival.
“Morals do not come from the state and society. Morality deals with weightier matters that measure our thoughts, words, and deeds against universals that are true regardless of time and place.”
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Jeffrey Tucker 38
American writer 1963Related quotes
Variant translation: "Before joy, anger, sadness and happiness are expressed, they are called the inner self; when they are expressed to the proper degree, they are called harmony. The inner self is the correct foundation of the world, and harmony is the illustrious Way. When a man has achieved the inner self and harmony, the heaven and earth are orderly and the myriad things are nourished and grow thereby."
As translated by Lin Yutang in The Importance of Living (1937), pp. 143–144
Source: The Doctrine of the Mean, p. 104
An imaginary “scandal” http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/23/may05/dalrymple.htm (May 2005).
New Criterion (2000 - 2005)
"'Moral Relativism': Do Conservatives Really Object?" https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/06/moral-relativism-absolutism-debate-conservatism/ (18 June 2019), National Review
Speech to the Zurich Economic Society “The New Renaissance” (14 March 1977) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103336
Leader of the Opposition
Context: In our philosophy the purpose of the life of the individual is not to be the servant of the State and its objectives, but to make the best of his talents and qualities. The sense of being self-reliant, of playing a role within the family, of owning one's own property, of paying one's way, are all part of the spiritual ballast which maintains responsible citizenship, and provides the solid foundation from which people look around to see what more they might do, for others and for themselves. That is what we mean by a moral society; not a society where the State is responsible for everything, and no-one is responsible for the State.
“People don't get their morality from their reading matter: they bring their morality to it.”
Ibid.
Essays and reviews, From the Land of Shadows (1982)
Introduction p. 3-4
The Servile Mind: How Democracy Erodes the Moral Life
1950s, Rediscovering Lost Values (1954)
" Where does morality come from? A demonstration with monkeys http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2012/08/07/where-does-morality-come-from-a-demonstration-with-monkeys/" August 7, 2012