Man sometimes thinks he's been elevated to be the controller, the ruler, but he's not. He's only part of the whole. Man's job is not to exploit, but to oversee, to be a steward. Man has responsibility, not power.
Oren LyonsRead
If you don't have a moral question governing your society, then you don't have a society that is going to survive.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A society requires shared moral principles to ensure its survival and cohesion.
Oren Lyons' quote emphasizes the fundamental role of morals and ethics in the fabric of society. It suggests that without a guiding moral compass, a society risks disintegration, as its members may act solely in their self-interest rather than for the common good, leading to chaos and eventual collapse.
Themes
MoralitySocietySurvivalEthicsCommunity
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech addressing community values.
More from Oren Lyons
All quotes βAlthough we are in different boats you in your boat and we in our canoe we share the same river of life.
Oren LyonsRead
Even through you and I are in different boats, you in your boat and we our canoe, we share the same river of life. What befalls me befalls you. And downstream, downstream in this river of life, our children will pay for our selfishness, for our greed, and for our lack of vision.
Oren LyonsRead
We say that the faces of coming generations are looking up from the earth. So when you put your feet down, you put them down very carefully - because there are generations coming one after the other. If you think in these terms, then you'll walk a lot more carefully, be more respectful of this earth.
Oren LyonsRead
When we walk upon Mother Earth,_x000D_ we always plant our feet carefully_x000D_ because we know the faces of our future generations_x000D_ are looking up at us from beneath the ground._x000D_ we never forget them.
Oren LyonsRead
We have to do that. We have to be thankful. That's what we said. Two things were told to us: To be thankful, so those are our ceremonies, ceremonies of thanksgiving. We built nations around it, and you can do that, too. And the other thing they said was enjoy life. That's a rule, a law- enjoy life- you're supposed to.
Oren LyonsRead
Similar quotes
It is not difficult to deprive the great majority of independent thought. But the minority who will retain an inclination to criticize must also be silenced....Public criticism or even expressions of doubt must be suppressed because they tend to weaken pubic support....When the doubt or fear expressed concerns not the success of a particular enterprise but of the whole social plan, it must be treated even more as sabotage.
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How terrible it is to have no cares, no longings. I do not fit. I feel too deeply and want too much. As cages go, it is a gilded one, but I shall not live well in it or any cage for that matter.
Libba BrayRead
When a legislature decides to steal some of our rights and plans to use police force to accomplish it, what's the real difference between them and the thief? Darn little! They hide behind the excuse that they're legislating democratically. The fact they do it by a majority vote has no moral significance whatsoever. Numerical might does not constitute right, no more than a lynch mob can justify its act because a majority participated.
H. L. RichardsonRead
The human brain has evolved the capacity to impose a narrative, complete with chronology and cause-and-effect logic, on whatever it encounters, no matter how apparently random.
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Hunger has no ideology. It does not respond to party or to rant. Hunger, in short, is not a red state/blue state problem.
Donna BrazileRead
Whatever we have done with our lives makes us what we are when we die. And everything, absolutely everything, counts.
Sogyal RinpocheRead