Where a reputation for intolerance is more feared than a reputation for vice itself, all manner of evil may be expected to flourish.
Interpretation
Fear of judgment can lead to the acceptance of immoral behavior.
This quote by Theodore Dalrymple suggests that when society prioritizes the fear of being labeled as intolerant over the fear of being perceived as morally corrupt, it creates an environment where unethical actions can thrive. Intolerance becomes a greater concern than vice itself, leading individuals to ignore or even support wrongdoing to avoid being labeled as unaccepting or judgmental.
In practice
In a discussion about moral standards in society, this quote can highlight the dangers of prioritizing reputation over ethics.
So what exactly are the rewards of resentment. It is always a relief to know that the reason we have failed in life is not because we lack the talent, energy, or determination to succeed, but because of a factor that is beyond our control and that has loaded the dice decisively against us.
It is clear to me that people often want incompatible things. They want danger and excitement on the one hand, and safety and security on the other, and often simultaneously. Contradictory desires mean that life can never be wholly satisfying or without frustration.
There is nothing in the whole frame of man which seems to me so unaccountable as that thing called conscience.
There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers.
If language is lost, humanity is lost. If writing is lost, certain kinds of civilization and society are lost, but many other kinds remain - and there is no reason to think that those alternatives are inferior.
Each of us is a moving center, a space of divine mystery. And though we spend most of our time on the surface in the daily details of ordinary existence, most us hunger to connect to this space within, to break through to bliss, to be swept away into something bigger than us.
I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think, and feel. And yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling.
For all that has been, Thank you. For all that is to come, Yes!
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