Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, which is the only fact we have.
~ James Baldwin
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Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have.
~ James Baldwin
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I love America more than any other country in the world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.
~ James Baldwin
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If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving.
~ James Baldwin
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Understanding the simple fact that morality differs around the world, and even within societies, is the first step toward understanding your righteous mind.
~ Jonathan Haidt
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The social intuitionist model offers an explanation of why moral and political arguments are so frustrating: because moral reasons are the tail wagged by the intuitive dog. A dog’s tail wags to communicate. You can’t make a dog happy by forcibly wagging its tail. And you can’t change people’s minds by utterly refuting their arguments.
~ Jonathan Haidt
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People bind themselves into political teams that share moral narratives. Once they accept a particular narrative, they become blind to alternative moral worlds.
~ Jonathan Haidt
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Our moral thinking is much more like a politician searching for votes than a scientist searching for truth.
~ Jonathan Haidt
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