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Custom and convention29 quotes
Habit and custom may be the wisdom of unlettered men, but they come from the sound ancient heart of humanity. — Russell Kirk · 1953The men, women, and children who compose a society at any time are the unconscious depositaries and transmitters of the mores. They inherited them without knowing it; they are molding them unconsciously; they will transmit them involuntarily. The people cannot make the mores. They are made by them. — William Graham Sumner · 1906So true is it that unnatural generally means only uncustomary, and that everything which is usual appears natural. The subjection of women to men being a universal custom, any departure from it quite naturally appears unnatural. — John Stuart Mill · 1869One man’s ways may be as good as another’s, but we all like our own best. — Jane Austen · 1817But, to my mind, though I am native here
And to the manner born, it is a custom
More honored in the breach than the observance. — William Shakespeare · 1616Custom, then, is the great guide of human life. — David Hume · 1748All 29 quotes →Law7 quotes
Let me make the superstitions of a nation and I care not who makes its laws or its songs either. — Mark Twain · 1897There are two sorts of laws, those of absolute equity and universality, and the bizarre ones which owe their autonomy only to blindness or to the force of circumstance. The latter merely cover the man who is breaking them with a passing disgrace, which time then transfers to the judges and the nations, on whom it remains forever. — Denis Diderot · 1805The law touches us but here and there, and now and then. Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe in. — Edmund Burke · 1796There is a written and an unwritten law. The one by which we regulate our constitutions in our cities is the written law; that which arises from custom is the unwritten law. — Diogenes Laertius · 240Laws are sand, customs are rock. Laws can be evaded and punishment escaped, but an openly transgressed custom brings sure punishment. — Mark Twain · 1906How long soever it hath continued, if it be against reason, it is of no force in law. — Edward Coke · 1628All 7 quotes →Morality6 quotes
The men, women, and children who compose a society at any time are the unconscious depositaries and transmitters of the mores. They inherited them without knowing it; they are molding them unconsciously; they will transmit them involuntarily. The people cannot make the mores. They are made by them. — William Graham Sumner · 1906Each race determines for itself what indecencies are. Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them. — Mark Twain · 1896To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man's character one must judge it by the standards of his time, not ours. — Mark Twain · 1896Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns. — Charlotte Bronte · 1848Actions receive their tincture from the times,
And as they change, are virtues made or crimes. — Daniel Defoe · 1703The Lord says in the gospel; "I am the Truth." He does not say "I am custom." Therefore, when the truth is made manifest, custom must give way to truth. — Libosus of Vaga · 400Moral theory4 quotes
Each race determines for itself what indecencies are. Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them. — Mark Twain · 1896Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns. — Charlotte Bronte · 1848Actions receive their tincture from the times,
And as they change, are virtues made or crimes. — Daniel Defoe · 1703The Lord says in the gospel; "I am the Truth." He does not say "I am custom." Therefore, when the truth is made manifest, custom must give way to truth. — Libosus of Vaga · 400Moral relativism3 quotes
Each race determines for itself what indecencies are. Nature knows no indecencies; man invents them. — Mark Twain · 1896To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man's character one must judge it by the standards of his time, not ours. — Mark Twain · 1896Actions receive their tincture from the times,
And as they change, are virtues made or crimes. — Daniel Defoe · 1703Conformity2 quotes
To do exactly as your neighbors do is the only sensible rule. — Emily Post · 1922You may talk of the tyranny of Nero and Tiberius; but the real tyranny is the tyranny of your next-door neighbor.... Public opinion is a permeating influence, and it exacts obedience to itself; it requires us to think other men's thoughts, to speak other men's words, to follow other men's habits. — Walter Bagehot · 1856Legal theory2 quotes
Whence it is that in our law the goodness of a custom depends upon its having been used time out of mind; or, in the solemnity of our legal phrase, time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary. — William Blackstone · 1765Laws are sand, customs are rock. Laws can be evaded and punishment escaped, but an openly transgressed custom brings sure punishment. — Mark Twain · 1906Adaptability1 quote
When you are at Rome live in the Roman style: when you are elsewhere live as they live elsewhere. — St. Ambrose · 397Barbarism1 quote
Everyone calls barbarism what is not customary to him. — Michel de Montaigne · 1580Common sense1 quote
Common sense is actually nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind prior to the age of eighteen. — Albert Einstein · 1948Cultural sensitivity1 quote
When you are at Rome live in the Roman style: when you are elsewhere live as they live elsewhere. — St. Ambrose · 397Formation of character1 quote
The life-history of the individual is first and foremost an accommodation to the patterns and standards traditionally handed down in his community. From the moment of his birth the customs into which he is born shape his experience and behavior. By the time he can talk, he is the little creature of his culture, and by the time he is grown and able to take part in its activities, its habits are his habits, its beliefs his beliefs, its impossibilities his impossibilities. — Ruth Benedict · 1934Historical criticism1 quote
To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man's character one must judge it by the standards of his time, not ours. — Mark Twain · 1896Hypocrisy1 quote
Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns. — Charlotte Bronte · 1848Law and culture1 quote
No written law has ever been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular opinion. — Carrie Chapman Catt · 1900Manners1 quote
Manners are of more importance than laws... Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe in. They give their whole form and color to our lives. — Edmund Burke · 1796Moral absolutism1 quote
The Lord says in the gospel; "I am the Truth." He does not say "I am custom." Therefore, when the truth is made manifest, custom must give way to truth. — Libosus of Vaga · 400Moral decline1 quote
In olden days, a glimpse of stocking
Was looked on as something shocking,
But now, God knows,
Anything goes. — Cole Porter · 1934National myths1 quote
Let me make the superstitions of a nation and I care not who makes its laws or its songs either. — Mark Twain · 1897Natural law1 quote
There are two sorts of laws, those of absolute equity and universality, and the bizarre ones which owe their autonomy only to blindness or to the force of circumstance. The latter merely cover the man who is breaking them with a passing disgrace, which time then transfers to the judges and the nations, on whom it remains forever. — Denis Diderot · 1805Oppression of women1 quote
So true is it that unnatural generally means only uncustomary, and that everything which is usual appears natural. The subjection of women to men being a universal custom, any departure from it quite naturally appears unnatural. — John Stuart Mill · 1869Reason1 quote
How long soever it hath continued, if it be against reason, it is of no force in law. — Edward Coke · 1628Received wisdom1 quote
Common sense is actually nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind prior to the age of eighteen. — Albert Einstein · 1948Relativism1 quote
One man’s ways may be as good as another’s, but we all like our own best. — Jane Austen · 1817Self-righteousness1 quote
Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns. — Charlotte Bronte · 1848Society1 quote
The men, women, and children who compose a society at any time are the unconscious depositaries and transmitters of the mores. They inherited them without knowing it; they are molding them unconsciously; they will transmit them involuntarily. The people cannot make the mores. They are made by them. — William Graham Sumner · 1906Truth1 quote
The Lord says in the gospel; "I am the Truth." He does not say "I am custom." Therefore, when the truth is made manifest, custom must give way to truth. — Libosus of Vaga · 400