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Robert P. George
58 quotes
“When my liberal colleagues in higher education say, "You guys shouldn't be worried so much about these social issues, about abortion and marriage; you should be worrying about poverty," I say, "If you were genuinely worried about poverty, you would be joining us in rebuilding the marriage culture." Do you want to know why people are trapped in poverty in so many inner cities? The picture is complex, but undeniably a key element of it is the destruction of the family and the prevalence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and fatherlessness.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“People who are aware that they are making contestable assumptions are much more likely to recognize that reasonable people of goodwill can, in fact, disagree—even about matters of profound human and moral significance.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is the attitudes, habits, dispositions, imagination, ideology, values, and choices shaped by a culture in which pornography flourishes that will, in the end, deprive many children of what can without logical or moral strain be characterized as their right to a healthy sexuality. In a society in which sex is depersonalized, and thus degraded, even conscientious parents will have enormous difficulty transmitting to their children the capacity to view themselves and others as persons rather than objects of sexual desire and satisfaction.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Art can elevate and ennoble. It can also degrade and even corrupt. Whatever should be done or not done by way of legal restriction of pornographic art, we ought not to make things easy on ourselves by pretending that art cannot be pornographic or that pornographic art cannot degrade. Nor ought we to avert our gaze from the peculiar insult and injustice involved in the government funding of pornography.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Personal authenticity, in the classical understanding of liberal-arts education, consists in self-mastery—in placing reason in control of desire. According to the classic liberal-arts ideal, learning promises liberation, but it is not liberation from demanding moral ideals and social norms, or liberation to act on our desires—it is, rather, liberation from slavery to those desires, from slavery to self.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The true liberal-arts ideal rejects the reduction of reason to the status of passion's ingenious servant. It is an ideal rooted in the conviction that there are human goods, and a common good, in light of which we have reasons to constrain, to limit, to regulate, and even to alter our desires.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As human beings, we are rational animals, but we are imperfectly rational. We are prone to making intellectual and moral mistakes and capable of behaving grossly unreasonably—especially when deflected by powerful emotions that run contrary to the demands of reasonableness.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Conscience as "self-will" is a matter of feeling or emotion, not reason. It is concerned not so much with identifying what one has a duty to do or not do, one's feelings and desires to the contrary notwithstanding, but rather with sorting out one's feelings. Conscience as self-will identifies permissions, not obligations. It licenses behavior by establishing that one doesn't feel bad about doing it—or at least one doesn't feel so bad about doing it that one prefers the alternative of not doing it.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Robust support for marital norms serves children, spouses, and hence our whole economy, especially the poor. Family breakdown thrusts the state into roles for which it is ill-suited: parent and discipliner to the orphaned and neglected, and arbiter of disputes over custody and paternity.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[C]onsider, humbly, that had we been there, few of us would have been among the heroes who, at great risk to themselves, sheltered Jews and other victims or joined the forces opposing Hitler and the Nazis. Very few of us indeed.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[E]ugenic doctrine did not originate with the Nazis. It began with polite, urbane, well-educated, sophisticated people who saw "social hygiene" via, among other methods, euthanasia, as representing progress and modernity. They wanted to ditch the old Judaeo-Christian belief in the sanctity of all human life and replace it with what they regarded as a more advanced and rational philosophy.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Bullies are cowards, and if you stand up to them, they back away.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The phenomenon we know as political correctness thrives on people's permitting themselves to be intimidated by the people who are the enforcers of these norms and orthodoxies.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It takes 11 guys to change the world. It takes five to change a university. We can do this.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Things always seem impossible until people do them.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's the rich and powerful, by and large, who glamorize immorality, but it's the poor and vulnerable who pay the price.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[P]rogressives are learning the hard way that their adversaries can play their game of vilifying and bullying opponents. Just desserts? I've heard some conservatives say so. But it is terrible for the country.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[T]he struggle over slavery and racial injustice that did result in civil war. Here, too, the disputes were not merely about means, but about ends — about fundamental matters of right and wrong. And although the war, after consuming the lives of nearly three-quarters of a million people, ended after four years, the struggle went on for more than a hundred more, and we are still living with its aftershocks today.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Despite our profound differences, Americans on both or all sides of the great cultural struggles of our day must recognize their opponents (or most, or at least many, of their opponents) as reasonable people of goodwill who, doing their best, have arrived at different conclusions about fundamental moral questions — including basic questions of justice and human rights. If that is to happen, political and intellectual leaders, as well as people in the media, are going to have to model treating their adversaries with respect — and not demonizing them.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Be not afraid... Have courage. Be bold. Do not let yourself be intimidated. Do not yield to the bullies. Stand up. Speak out. Fear God, not men. Be willing to bear the cost of discipleship. Be prepared to take up your cross and follow Jesus — even to Calvary.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Speak the truth in love, leaving no one in doubt about where you stand. Bear faithful witness. Be gentle as doves, but wise — even cunning — as serpents. Do not compromise your principles — out of fear or even in the hope of advancing worthy goals. Do not fall into the error of believing that a good end justifies a bad means. But do work tirelessly for the best causes — especially life and marriage, but also, and relatedly, to lift up the poor, the downtrodden and the persecuted, both here in the United States and abroad.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Praise God when we seem to be making progress; trust him when we seem not to be. Remember that it is ultimately God’s job, not ours, to bring the victories. They will come on his timetable and on his terms. Our job is to be faithful — to stand up, speak out, and bear witness. And by the way, no Christian is exempt from that duty. So no excuses.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Phony manliness is about vulgarity and bravado. Real manliness is about serving others sacrificially and protecting the weak and vulnerable.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (23 September 2017)
“Real manliness is about self-possession, self-control, and self-sacrifice. A real man will never be a bully, he will stand up to bullies.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (23 September 2017)
“If you're a father of sons, think of a man you'd like your boys to emulate, then be that man--exemplify his selflessness, fidelity, courage.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (23 September 2017)
“A man of honor is never predatory or unfaithful. He does not regard women as objects. He treats women with respect as his equal in dignity.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (23 September 2017)
“There are no lebensunwertes leben--no "lives unworthy of life." Every member of the human family bears profound, inherent and equal dignity.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (16 October 2017)
“Stunning that liberals haven't noticed that Trump and Trumpians are happy to use for their own ends precedents liberals set when in power.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (30 December 2017)
“We're now quickly losing our Korea heroes as well--veterans of "the forgotten war." Let's not forget them or fail to honor and cherish them.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (12 November 2017)
“Al Franken deserves condemnation, but President Trump's intervention, given his own self-confessed misconduct, makes what should be bipartisan seem merely partisan. Not helpful. Pots and kettles, Mr. President, pots and kettles.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (17 November 2017)
“I myself am not a Trump supporter, nor was I supporter of Obama or Clinton. But I had and have friends who supported all of them and who deeply disagree with me on profound moral questions. It wouldn't occur to me to banish them from my life. Argue? Yes. Banish? No.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (25 November 2017)
“One needn't be a Christian to be pro-life. Many pro-life people aren't. But a fundamental tenet of Christian faith is the profound, inherent & equal dignity and right to life of every member of the human family. That, in the end, simply cannot be squared with the pro-choice view.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (13 December 2017)
“Of course one could claim that the human embryo or fetus is not (yet) a human being, but that's just science-denial. Or one could claim that human beings in early developmental stages don't have dignity but that is a denial that dignity is inherent and that all humans are equal.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (13 December 2017)
“My God! People! People!!! Do you not see where this goes??? Do the Dutch, who suffered under--and in many cases heroically resisted--Hitler's domination, forget that the "final solution" began with the dehumanization and eugenic killing of the handicapped?”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (14 December 2017)
“(and more broadly in Europe) is no trivial matter: A 2013 study showed that 51 percent of anti-Semitic incidents in Sweden were attributed to Muslim extremists. 5 percent to right-wing extremists; 25 percent to left-wing extremists.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (16 December 2017)
“Both views have had their glory moments, and both have had their moments of shame. Whether we’re conservatives or whether we’re liberals, it should remind us that we are human beings who are fallible.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[T]his is truly a great country. When true to ourselves we are unmatched. In the words of Irving Berlin, God bless America!”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (25 December 2017)
“By this point in HIS first term President Obama already had a Nobel Prize. All President Trump has is a train station in a foreign country--not even a big country. Just a little one. Barely the size of Connecticut. Sad.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (27 December 2017)
“[T]ruth is the ground and condition of freedom. Unless it is true that human beings deserve to have fundamental liberties respected and protected, the tyrant does no wrong in violating them. Relativism, skepticism, and subjectivism about truth provide no secure basis for freedom. We should honor civil liberties because the norms enjoining us to respect and protect them are valid, sound, in a word, true.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (1 January 2018)
“I'm increasingly convinced that the principal moral errors of contemporary western societies, especially among elites, are rooted in the triumph of Hobbes' view of human beings as basically machines for having experiences. It's the anthropology underwriting the Age of Feeling.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (1 January 2018)
“People of faith--all faiths--need to understand that everyone, including the unbeliever, has a basic human right to religious freedom.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (6 January 2018)
“Republicans who are pleased by my calling out Dems on religious freedom should remember that religious freedom must be honored for everyone--including Muslims. Though some Repubs have been good on this, others (inc the President) have not been. There must be one standard for all.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (17 January 2018)
“Social conservatives should be sober realists about DJT. His support for us, where he has given it (e.g. judges), is transactional. He does not share our principles nor has he lived (or aspired to live) by them. There is real danger of his discrediting them among persuadables.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (18 January 2018)
“Canada is sinking deeper and deeper into illiberalism--in the name of liberal values”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (27 January 2018)
“I'm learning that a lot of people--on the left as well as the right--have a problem with Jews. It is not that they object to Jews as people. It's that they object to Jews as Jews.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (15 February 2018)
“If you hate Jews you do not love God. You may claim to be a Christian (or Muslim) but the God you worship is an idol, not the God of Israel.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (18 February 2018)
“Others must do as their own consciences require, but I stand with @monacharenEPPC. She stands for true conservative, American, and Judaeo-Christian values.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (24 February 2018)
“I wish we conservatives could clone Mona Charen so that we could keep one for ourselves and give the other to the liberal movement which is equally badly in need of a truth-teller to call out the hypocrites and snollygosters.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (24 February 2018)
“Limited government—considered as an ideal as vital to business as to the family—cannot be maintained where the marriage culture collapses and families fail to form or easily dissolve. Where these things happen, the health, education, and welfare functions of the family will have to be undertaken by someone, or some institution, and that will sooner or later be the government. To deal with pressing social problems, bureaucracies will grow, and with them the tax burden. Moreover, the growth of crime and other pathologies where family breakdown is rampant will result in the need for more extensive policing and incarceration and, again, increased taxes to pay for these government services. If we want limited government, as we should, and a level of taxation that is not unduly burdensome, we need healthy institutions of civil society, beginning with a flourishing marriage culture that supports family formation and preservation.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My own immigrant grandfathers came to the United States a little over a hundred years ago. Like most immigrants then and now, they were not drawn here by any abstract belief in the superiority of the American political system. My father's father came from Syria, fleeing oppression visited upon him and his family as members of a relatively small ethnic and religious minority group in that troubled country. My mother’s father came to escape the poverty of southern Italy. They both worked on the railroads and in the mines. ... Although both my grandfathers encountered ethnic prejudice, they viewed this as an aberration—a failure of some Americans to live up to the nation's ideals. It did not dawn on them to blame the bad behavior of some Americans on America itself. On the contrary, America in their eyes was a land of unsurpassed blessing. It was a nation of which they were proud and happy to become citizens. And even before they became citizens they had become patriots—men who deeply appreciated what America is and what she stands for.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source