The whole life lies in the verb seeing.
Pierre Teilhard De ChardinRead
Morality arose largely as an empirical defence of the individual and society. Ever since intelligent beings began to be in contact, and consequently in friction, they have felt the need to guard themselves against each other's encroachments.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Morality is a way for individuals and societies to protect themselves from harm caused by others.
In this quote, Pierre Teilhard De Chardin expresses that morality emerged as a practical means for individuals and societies to defend themselves against the potential threats posed by human interactions. He suggests that the need for ethical guidelines arises from the friction that occurs when intelligent beings interact, indicating that morality is fundamentally tied to the dynamics of human relationships and the safeguarding of both personal and communal well-being.
Themes
MoralitySocietyDefenseIndividualInteractions
In practice
Example use cases
In a conversation about ethics in business, one might say, 'Morality arose largely as an empirical defence of the individual and society,' to emphasize the importance of ethical practices.
More from Pierre Teilhard De Chardin
All quotes →Religion and science are the two conjugated faces or phases of one and the same complete act of knowledge - the only one which can embrace the past and future of evolution and so contemplate, measure and fulfil them.
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The mineral world is a much more supple and mobile world than could be imagined by the science of the ancients. Vaguely analogous to the metamorphoses of living creatures, there occurs in the most solid rocks, as we now know, perpetual transformation of a mineral species.
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We may, perhaps, imagine that the creation was finished long ago. But that would be quite wrong. It continues still more magnificently, and at the highest levels of the world.
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Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves. All we need is to imagine our ability to love developing until it embraces the totality of men and the earth.
Pierre Teilhard De ChardinRead
If there is one thing I fear less than everything else, it is, I believe, persecution for my opinions. There are a good many points about which I may be diffident, but when it comes to questions of Truth and intellectual independence, there is no holding me - I can envisage no finer end than to sacrifice oneself for a conviction.
Pierre Teilhard De ChardinRead
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