Let us hold fast the great truth, that communities are responsible, as — Dignity

"Facilius crescit dignitas quam incipit."

"Let none presume To wear an undeserved dignity."

"Dignity is like air … When there’s enough of it, you don’t notice it... When there’s a lack of [it], you suffocate. When you’re full of dignity, you can focus on other things like your goals, your interests, anything. When you feel humiliated..., your brain focuses huge amounts of attention on your humiliation. You obsess on how people don’t appreciate your human value."

"Americans still admire dignity. But the word has become unmoored from any larger set of rules or ethical system. But its not right to end on a note of cultural pessimism because there is the fact of President Obama. Whatever policy differences people may have with him, we can all agree that he exemplifies reticence, dispassion and the other traits associated with dignity. The cultural effects of his presidency are not yet clear, but they may surpass his policy impact. He may revitalize the concept of dignity for a new generation and embody a new set of rules for self-mastery."

"Dignity is naturally an "aristocratic" virtue, best demonstrated in adverse circumstances, in bearing of suffering, in facing death, childbirth, or the guillotine. Dignity as an attitude is also something personal and not collective. Democratism never liked dignity. Nothing infuriates the howling mob more than dignity."

"By indignities men come to dignities."