There is one great universal value.

 

It is not love because we cannot love everyone.

It is not respect, for not everyone deserves it.

It is not peace because we all differ and often disagree.

It is not generosity because we cannot always give.

 

The one great universal value is dignity

because even if a person is unlovable,

even if  a person deserves no respect,

even if a person is not peaceful and promotes conflict

and even if a person never gives or receives,

that person has dignity because of

the fact of being a person, a human,

existing in thought, sense and feeling

in the world.

 

To deny a person dignity

is the greatest human evil.

 

To respect a person’s dignity

is the universal good.

 

29/10/2017