Avishai Margalit Quotes
Avishai Margalit is an Israeli philosopher, professor emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and former permanent fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and one of the most influential moral and political philosophers of his generation. The Decent Society distinguished a decent society, one whose institutions do not humiliate its members, from a merely just society in which only outcomes are properly distributed, while The Ethics of Memory developed his concern for the moral significance of shared memory in the maintenance of communities. The quotes below are attributed to Avishai Margalit, organized by topic.
Avishai Margalit on Politics
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Attributed to Avishai Margalit:
“A decent society is one whose institutions do not humiliate its members.”
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Attributed to Avishai Margalit:
“Justice is the minimal requirement of politics; decency is its proper aspiration.”
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Attributed to Avishai Margalit:
“Some compromises are rotten; the wise politician knows which ones.”
Avishai Margalit on Time
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Attributed to Avishai Margalit:
“Memory is the medium in which a community remains itself across time.”
Avishai Margalit on Virtue
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Attributed to Avishai Margalit:
“The thick and the thin moralities are not rivals; they answer different needs.”