Dignity

Dignity

Dignity is a term used in moral, ethical, and political discussions to signify that a being has an innate right to respect and ethical treatment. It is an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable rights. Dignity is generally proscriptive and cautionary: for example in politics it is usually used to critique the treatment of oppressed and vulnerable groups and peoples, but it has also been extended to apply to cultures and sub-cultures, religious beliefs and ideals, animals used for food or research, and plants.

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Famous quotes containing the word dignity:

    I believe it was a good job,
    Despite this possible horror: that they might prefer the
    Preservation of their law in all its sick dignity and their knives
    To the continuation of their creed
    And their lives.
    Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)

    No dignity without distance.
    Mason Cooley (b. 1927)

    The fact that Romans once inhabited her reflects no little dignity on Nature herself; that from some particular hill the Roman once looked out on the sea.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)