All this is to say that I believe in conscience, not as something implanted by divine act, but as something learned from infancy, from the tradition and society which bred us. The outward forms of virtue will vary greatly from nation to nation. But in the essential outlines of what constitutes human decency, we vary amazingly little. The Chinese and the Indian know as well as I do what kindness is, what generosity is, what fortitude is. They can define justice quite as accurately. It is only when they and I are blinded by tribal and denominational narrowness that we must insist upon our differences and can recognize goodness only in the robes of our own crowd. I am humble before the responsibilities that are also mine. For no right comes without a responsibility, and being born luckier than most of the world's millions, I am also born more obligated.
Wallace Stegner, born on this day in 1909
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