When you’re quotable, people quote you.
Even when what you say is rubbish.
You can quote me on that.
H.L. Mencken is quotable and here’s something he said:
Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant.
-H.L. Mencken
I hope to remain uncivilized for a long time.
It’s right to be kind to people even if they’re unkind to you.
It’s wrong to punch babies in the face.
It’s right to wipe the toilet seat off when I’m done…
…I know, I should have raised it before I started.
It’s wrong to steal things from other people.
It’s right to share.
It’s wrong to trip the elderly.
No need to go on.
I think you understand what a barbarian I am.
I’m precisely correct about these things and too savage to negotiate.
How would you describe yourself?
Civilized skeptic or uncivilized believer?
“He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”
Matthew 10:38
6 Responses
I think those who advocate moral relativism do so because they worship their own wants. Far from intellectually superior, worship of ones own wants betrays self centered immaturity, but without childish innocence to make it cute.
Agreed, Brianbeattie. Moral relativism requires that every notion of right and wrong be ‘up for grabs’ except for relativism itself. Skepticism about relativism is considered bad form by those who insist we maintain an open mind.
You are quite right. Funny how that works, huh? Now for a truly open mind, Bulwinkle as Mr. Know-it-all…
My favorite Bulwinkle segments.
Civilized skeptic…I just pee outside. We should constantly question morals…isn’t that how we got them in the first place?
Hi Ernie,
Morals are part of the human condition. They are hard-wired into us. They didn’t come about through civilized dialogue. We didn’t get them from a consensus among our ancestors.
I’m not sure I understand your statement that we should “constantly question morals”. Are you suggesting that perhaps, after intense scrutiny, we’ll discover that child abuse is not bad behavior? Are we not able to trust our conscience when it tells us thievery is wrong?