Civilized Behavior Quotes

“Civilized people must, I believe, satisfy the following criteria:

1) They respect human beings as individuals and are therefore always tolerant, gentle, courteous and amenable ... They do not create scenes over a hammer or a mislaid eraser; they do not make you feel they are conferring a great benefit on you when they live with you, and they don't make a scandal when they leave. (...)

2) They have compassion for other people besides beggars and cats. Their hearts suffer the pain of what is hidden to the naked eye. (...)

3) They respect other people's property, and therefore pay their debts.

4) They are not devious, and they fear lies as they fear fire. They don't tell lies even in the most trivial matters. To lie to someone is to insult them, and the liar is diminished in the eyes of the person he lies to. Civilized people don't put on airs; they behave in the street as they would at home, they don't show off to impress their juniors. (...)

5) They don't run themselves down in order to provoke the sympathy of others. They don't play on other people's heartstrings to be sighed over and cosseted ... that sort of thing is just cheap striving for effects, it's vulgar, old hat and false. (...)

6) They are not vain. They don't waste time with the fake jewellery of hobnobbing with celebrities, being permitted to shake the hand of a drunken [judicial orator], the exaggerated bonhomie of the first person they meet at the Salon, being the life and soul of the bar ... They regard prases like 'I am a representative of the Press!!' -- the sort of thing one only hears from [very minor journalists] -- as absurd. If they have done a brass farthing's work they don't pass it off as if it were 100 roubles' by swanking about with their portfolios, and they don't boast of being able to gain admission to places other people aren't allowed in (...) True talent always sits in the shade, mingles with the crowd, avoids the limelight ... As Krylov said, the empty barrel makes more noise than the full one. (...)

7) If they do possess talent, they value it ... They take pride in it ... they know they have a responsibility to exert a civilizing influence on [others] rather than aimlessly hanging out with them. And they are fastidious in their habits. (...)

8) They work at developing their aesthetic sensibility ... Civilized people don't simply obey their baser instincts ... they require mens sana in corpore sano.

And so on. That's what civilized people are like ... Reading Pickwick and learning a speech from Faust by heart is not enough if your aim is to become a truly civilized person and not to sink below the level of your surroundings.

[From a letter to Nikolay Chekhov, March 1886]”
― Anton Chekhov, A Life in Letters

“Many bad things were done under the Evil Empire" she said. "The best we can do now is undo them. Will you assist in this endeavor?"
"In every way that I can" said Nutt.
"I would like you to teach them civilized behavior," said Ladyship coldly.
He appeared to consider this. "Yes, of course, I think, that would be quite possible," he said. "And who would you send to teach the humans?"
There was a brief outburst of laughter from Vetinari, who immediately cupped his hand over his mouth. "Oh I do beg your pardon," he said.”
― Terry Pratchett, Unseen Academicals

“Feeling the inevitable claim of the this desert, he experienced a desire to throw off his civilized costume, hurl himself upon Josephina, either succumb, or return to Guadalajara, where men could only complain of having too many buttons to button or unbutton...”
― Warren Eyster, The Goblins of Eros

“There is no place for perfection in a civilized society, for anything that claims perfection, ends up claiming supremacy.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Hometown Human: To Live for Soil and Society

“To even think of a woman with sexual intent without consent, is harassment!”
― Abhijit Naskar, Girl Over God: The Novel

“It doesn't matter whether our certain thought or feeling or behavior is reasonable or not, what we must be aware of is, whether it impedes in our development, our internal growth - and whether it makes us a bigot.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Aşkanjali: The Sufi Sermon

“The task will not be finished till all humans become the personification of civilization.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Solo Standing on Guard: Life Before Law

“One who needs law is yet to be civilized.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Solo Standing on Guard: Life Before Law

“You'll know the world has become civilized when terms like nationality, religion, color and gender become archaic.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Generation Corazon: Nationalism is Terrorism

“The road to a civilized world goes through the dark woods of biases.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Hometown Human: To Live for Soil and Society

“Suits don't make people civilized, if they did, US Capitol would be the most civilized place on earth.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Hometown Human: To Live for Soil and Society

“I avoid argumentation with bigots, not because I'm afraid of them, but because I'm terrified of my own anger.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Hometown Human: To Live for Soil and Society

“You may or may not get the body, knowing this, if you can love a person without any hesitance, that my friend is the love of a civilized human, all others are mere actions of a good-looking animal.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Girl Over God: The Novel

“You cannot believe in civilization till you become civilization.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Gente Mente Adelante: Prejudice Conquered is World Conquered

“All are born a savage and most die a savage, only a handful die the death of a human.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Earthquakin' Egalitarian: I Die Everyday So Your Children Can Live

“Civilization doesn't live in definition, it lives in action.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Earthquakin' Egalitarian: I Die Everyday So Your Children Can Live

“Beyond sleep, security and nonchalance, there's a valley of, by and for the humans.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Giants in Jeans: 100 Sonnets of United Earth

“Civilization is synonym for nonsectarianism.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Giants in Jeans: 100 Sonnets of United Earth

“Lovely and Beastly (The Sonnet)

Lovely on the outside, beastly on the inside,
That is the norm of the modern world.
Fancy in appearance, yet lousy in sapience,
That's what we call civilized and cultured.
We are given a world rooted in shallowness,
Which screams selfishness in its every act.
Enough with this life of nonexistence,
We've spent long enough as empty wolfpack.
Let us now build our destiny with our sweat,
And devil and deity take the hindmost.
We shall soar high by serving on the streets,
There is no higher life, no greater post.
It's ok that we haven't known true civilization.
What's not ok is to pass it on through generation.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Mücadele Muhabbet: Gospel of An Unarmed Soldier

“We are an unfinished masterpiece of Mother Nature. You know why she didn't finish it? Because she wanted us to cast the deciding vote in how we turn out to be.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Making Britain Civilized: How to Gain Readmission to The Human Race

“Tell people who you are, without telling them who you are.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Making Britain Civilized: How to Gain Readmission to The Human Race

“Posh Yet Potty (The Sonnet)

One can be posh on the outside yet potty on the inside.
More often than less both of these go hand in hand.
Pedigree, personality, position, all are deemed important.
Amidst this royal mess of things we forget to be human.
We look at partisan loyalty, we look at intellectual fluency,
And in the process of analysis we end up a freudian chasm.
In order to find whether someone belongs in our camp,
We act less of a human and more of a lifeless algorithm.
It's okay if you don't know how to use spoon and fork.
What matters is, to reach out and feed an empty stomach.
It's okay if you don't know much fancy words and facts.
What matters is, your heart beats beyond the factual muck.
So, shitty or not we look on the outside, let's pay no attention,
Instead let us muster all spirit towards internal ascension.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Making Britain Civilized: How to Gain Readmission to The Human Race

“Ain’t No Sinner (The Sonnet)

When we think ourselves weak,
We become weak.
When we think ourselves sinner,
We become sinner most meek.
Yes we are fundamentally cruel and divisionistic,
Yes the evil in us is stronger than our good.
That's because our ancestors survived through cruelty,
They didn't have much scope to practice their good.
But we ain’t our ancestors in our way of life,
We don’t have to watch out for predators in every bush.
Then why do we still behave like predators ourselves,
Why don’t we break this tribalistic tradition of ambush!
No more cruelty either on ourselves or on those around!
Embolden your backbone into a fountain of kinship unbound.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Gentalist: There's No Social Work, Only Family Work

“A just human is a universal human.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Either Reformist or Terrorist: If You Are Terror I Am Your Grandfather

“Civilization is a process, not a place.”
― Abhijit Naskar, High Voltage Habib: Gospel of Undoctrination

“Defy norms that are obsolete, not norms in general. Society without norms exists only in fairytale.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence

“Upon conscientious acts of self-correction civilization unfolds. Animals gotta live by instincts, we can't choose the same road.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence

“You can take the ape out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the ape.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Yarasistan: My Wounds, My Crown

“In attempting to become more civilized, we enter the Middle Ages.”
― Tamerlan Kuzgov

“Berber’s Business Rule Number Six:

The power to destroy often overwhelms the power to create ― because almost anyone can wield it. So fight for the underdog. Be constructive, not destructive. It’s the civilized thing to do.”
― George Hammond, Bob and Charlie