Common Good Quotes - Page 8

• The life of the community, both domestically and internationally, clearly demonstrates that respect for rights, and the guarantees that follow from them, are measures of the common good that serve to evaluate the relationship between justice and injustice, development and poverty, security and conflict.

  Pope Benedict XVI

  Guarantees That, Rights, Justice

  Statement to the United Nations General Assembly, delivered 18 April 2008, New York, NY

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• A zeal for different opinions concerning religion...[has] divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good.

  James Madison

  Party, Religion, Atheism

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (1864). “The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States”, p.106

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• To wage war on misery and to struggle against injustice is to promote, along with improved conditions, the human and spiritual progress of all men, and therefore the common good of humanity. Peace cannot be limited to a mere absence of war, the result of an ever precarious balance of forces. No, peace is something that is built up day after day, in the pursuit of an order intended by God, which implies a more perfect form of justice among men.

  Pope Paul VI

  Spiritual, Peace, War

  Catholic Church. Pope (1963-1978 : Paul VI), Pope Paul VI (1980*). “On the development of peoples”

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• Our society accepts the book as a given, but the act of reading -- once considered useful and important, as well as potentially dangerous and subversive -- is now condescendingly accepted as a pastime, a slow pastime that lacks efficiency and does not contribute to the common good.

  Alberto Manguel

  Book, Reading, Important

  Alberto Manguel (2011). “The Library at Night”, p.209, Vintage Canada

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• Many years ago someone told me something that I flatly refused to accept. And I still don't accept it now, despite all the times I've seen it proved right. "The common good and the individual good rarely coincide..." Sure, I know, it's true. But some truths are probably worse than lies.

  Sergei Lukyanenko

  Lying, Years, Common

  Sergei Lukyanenko (2006). “Night Watch”, Miramax

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• Even the best weapon is an unhappy tool, hateful to living things. So the follower of the Way stays away from it. Weapons are unhappy tools, not chosen by thoughtful people, to be used only when there is no choice, and with a calm, still mind, without enjoyment. To enjoy using weapons is to enjoy killing people, and to enjoy killing people is to lose your share in the common good. It is right that the murder of many people be mourned and lamented. It is right that a victor in war be received with funeral ceremonies.

  Ursula K. Le Guin

  War, Thoughtful, People

  Ursula K. Le Guin, Jerome P. Seaton (2009). “Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way”, p.48, Shambhala Publications

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• We offer peace and neighborliness to all the neighboring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Hebrew nation for the common good of all.

  David Ben-Gurion

  Independent, Israel, Common

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• The Gospel calls individual Christians to live lives of honesty, integrity and concern for the common good.. to create circles of integrity.., networks of solidarity which can expand to embrace and transform society by their prophetic witness.

  Pope Francis

  Christian, Honesty, Integrity

  Pope Francis (2016). “Men of Mercy: Pope Francis Speaks to Priests”, p.73, BookBaby

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• Now then, if we were to go the lowest road and plaster my face on the bottle of oil and vinegar dressing just to line our pockets, it would sink. But to go the low road to get to the high road- shameless exploitation for charity, for the common good- now that's an idea worth the hustle, a reciprocal trade agreement.

  Paul Newman

  Agreement, Ideas, Oil

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• The Church encourages those in power to be truly at the service of the common good of their peoples. She urges financial leaders to take account of ethics and solidarity. And why should they not turn to God to draw inspiration from his designs? In this way, a new political and economic mindset would arise that would help to transform the absolute dichotomy between the economic and social spheres into a healthy symbiosis.

  Pope Francis

  Inspiration, Justice, Design

  Pope Francis (2016). “Care for Creation: A Call for Ecological Conversion”, p.36, Orbis Books

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• Every dollar that is printed should not represent a debt to private bankers. It should represent an investment potential in the common good, in the common needs of our country.

  Cynthia McKinney

  Country, Bankers, Dollars

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• For her part, the Church always works for the integral development of every person. In this sense, she reiterates that the common good should not be simply an extra, simply a conceptual scheme of inferior quality tacked onto political programmes. The Church encourages those in power to be truly at the service of the common good of their peoples.

  Pope Francis

  Political, Church, Quality

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• The human person is in danger: this is certain, the human person is in danger today, here is the urgency of human ecology! And it is a serious danger because the cause of the problem is not superficial but profound: it is not just a matter of economics, but of ethics and anthropology.

  Pope Francis

  Profound, Matter, Today

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• Giving primacy to God means having the courage to say ‘no’ to evil, ‘no’ to violence, ‘no’ to oppression, to live a life in service of others and which fosters lawfulness and the common good. When a person discovers God, the true treasure, he abandons a selfish lifestyle and seeks to share with others the charity which comes from God. He who becomes a friend of God, loves his brothers and sisters, commits himself to safeguarding their life and their health, and also to respecting the environment and nature.

  Pope Francis

  Brother, Selfish, Mean

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• Libertarians recognize the inevitable pluralism of the modern world and for that reason assert that individual liberty is at least part of the common good.

  Tom G. Palmer

  Pluralism Is, Liberty, World

  Tom G. Palmer (2009). “Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice”, p.39, Cato Institute

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• It is now, more than ever, necessary that political leaders be outstanding for honesty, integrity and commitment to the common good. Thus will they be able to marshal the moral resources needed to face the demands of the present, and to pass on to coming generations a society of authentic justice, solidarity and peace.

  Pope Francis

  Honesty, Integrity, Commitment

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• Religion creates community, community creates altruism and altruism turns us away from self and towards the common good... There is something about the tenor of relationships within a religious community that makes it the best tutorial in citizenship and good neighborliness.

  Jonathan Sacks

  Religious, Self, Community

  "Rowan Williams: no one voted for coalition policies" by Patrick Wintour, www.theguardian.com. June 8, 2011.

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• Some fine day, Democrats may figure out how to get on the right side of the value divide - how to define America as a place of the common good and not a playground of the strong.

  Todd Gitlin

  Strong, America, May

  "A Gathering Swarm" by Todd Gitlin, www.motherjones.com. January/February 2005.

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• This new power, which has proved itself to be such a terrifying weapon of destruction, is harnessed for the first time for the common good of our community.

  Queen Elizabeth II

  Science, Community, Weapons

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• In an era when careerism dominates the campus, is it too much to expect students to go beyond their private interests, learn about the world around them, develop a sense of civic and social responsibility, and discover how they can contribute to the common good?

  Ernest L. Boyer

  Education, Responsibility, World

  Ernest L. Boyer (1997). “Ernest L. Boyer, Selected Speeches, 1979-1995”, Jossey-Bass

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• Set goals - high goals for you and your organization. When your organization has a goal to shoot for, you create teamwork, people working for a common good.

  Bear Bryant

  Leadership, Basketball, Teamwork

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• You are a bundle of mysteries. Finding and conquering yourself is a lifetime task. There are unplumbed depths in you full of the rich ore of personal discovery. Explore your self! There is power in you — the power to change yourself and to change the world.

  Wilferd Peterson

  Writing, Discovery, Inspire

  "The Art of Living".

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• While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently, they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control.

  Pope Francis

  Exercise, Minorities, Growing

  Pope Francis (2014). “The Joy of the Gospel”, p.21, BookBaby

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• Solidarity is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far. On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all

  Pope John Paul II

  Determination, Compassion, Dedication

  Pope John Paul II, J. Michael Miller (1998). “The Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortations of John Paul II”, p.425, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing

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• In the newborn child is realized the common good of the family.

  Pope John Paul II

  Family, Children, Newborn Child

  Pope John Paul II (1995). “Papal Wisdom: Words of Hope and Inspiration from John Paul II”, E P Dutton

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