---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everything depends on the value we give…"
description: "\"Everything depends on the value we give to things. We are the ones who make morality and virtue. The cannibal who eats his neighbor is as innocent as t..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/gustave-flaubert-354_barley_everything-depends-on-the-value-we-give_962804.jpg"
---

#  Everything depends on the value we give to things. We are…

![“Everything depends on the value we give to things. We are the ones who make morality and virtue. The cannibal who eats his neighbor is as innocent as the child who sucks his barley-sugar.” quote by Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/gustave-flaubert-354_barley_everything-depends-on-the-value-we-give_962804.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/gustave-flaubert-354_barley_everything-depends-on-the-value-we-give_962804.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/gustave-flaubert-354_barley_everything-depends-on-the-value-we-give_962804.jpg)

> “Everything depends on the value we give to things. We are the ones who make morality and virtue. The cannibal who eats his neighbor is as innocent as the child who sucks his barley-sugar.”

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Morality is subjective; value is assigned by individuals, making ethical judgments relative.

**In simple terms:** Values are personal, shaping morality.

Key Takeaway

Recognize the subjectivity of moral judgments.

Themes

ethics subjectivity relativism human nature

Mood

thoughtful philosophical

Type

ethical reflective

When to use this quote

- judging behavior
- ethical debates
- personal values

Key Concepts

philosophy morality

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you determine right from wrong?
- Can shared values create common morality?

A Different Perspective

Subjectivity can lead to moral ambiguity.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Barley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barley/) [Cannibal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cannibal/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Depends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depends/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Innocent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innocent/) [Make Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-morality-1413150/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Morality Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality-virtue-1793217/) [Neighbor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neighbor/) [Sugar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sugar/) [Value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/value/) [Value Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/value-things/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/)

## Related quotes

> [“Without morality and virtue most things in a free society fall apart. But with them, anything is possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-beck/without-morality-and-virtue-most-things-in-a-free-society-fall-apart/)

[Glenn Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-beck/)

> [To make our morality center on forbidden acts is to defile the imagination and to introduce into our judgments of our fellow men a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/to-make-our-morality-center-on-forbidden-acts-is-to-defile-the/)

[Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/)

> [To deny the freedom of the will is to make morality impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-anthony-froude/to-deny-the-freedom-of-the-will-is-to-make-morality-impossible/)

[James Anthony Froude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-anthony-froude/)

> [If we knew that god exists, such knowledge would make morality impossible. For, if we acted morally from fear or fright, or confident of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/if-we-knew-that-god-exists-such-knowledge-would-make-morality/)

[Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/)

> [You a role model by way of someone will model after your role. They'll model themselves after what they perceive is success. That doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/killer-mike/you-a-role-model-by-way-of-someone-will-model-after-your-role-they-ll/)

[Killer Mike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/killer-mike/)

> [Guided by nothing but pop culture values, many children no longer learn how to think about morality and virtue, or to think of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-bauer/guided-by-nothing-but-pop-culture-values-many-children-no-longer/)

[Gary Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-bauer/)

> [When I’m a Duchess,” she said to herself (not in a very hopeful tone though), “I won’t have any pepper in my kitchen at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/when-i-m-a-duchess-she-said-to-herself-not-in-a-very-hopeful-tone/)

[Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/)

> [Barley and mushroom is a soothing combination. It's mainly a textural thing, with the barley both gently breaking and enhancing the mushroomy gloopiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yotam-ottolenghi/barley-and-mushroom-is-a-soothing-combination-it-s-mainly-a-textural/)

[Yotam Ottolenghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yotam-ottolenghi/)

> [The human diet consists of just nine plants: corn, rice, wheat, potatoes, cassava, sorghum, millet, beans, barley, rye and oats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/the-human-diet-consists-of-just-nine-plants-corn-rice-wheat-potatoes/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [It was understood that nothing of a tender nature could possibly be confided to old Barley, by reason of his being totally unequal to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/it-was-understood-that-nothing-of-a-tender-nature-could-possibly-be/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [One of the products I swear by is Sante Barley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piolo-pascual/one-of-the-products-i-swear-by-is-sante-barley/)

[Piolo Pascual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piolo-pascual/)

> [Tabloid discussion of bad children always blames baby-boomer liberals, careerist mothers and fashion-crazed Nathan Barley types who think it's all enormously funny. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-york/tabloid-discussion-of-bad-children-always-blames-baby-boomer-liberals/)

[Peter York](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-york/)

> [Only reapers, reaping early In among the bearded barley, Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly, Down to towered Camelot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/only-reapers-reaping-early-in-among-the-bearded-barley-hear-a-song/)

[Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/)

> [He called her: mother of pearl, barley woman, rice provider, millet basket, corn maid, flax princess, all-maker, weef She called him: fawn, roebuck, stag,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-grahn/he-called-her-mother-of-pearl-barley-woman-rice-provider-millet/)

[Judy Grahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-grahn/)

> [You'll remember me when the west wind moves. Among the fields of barley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-cassidy/you-ll-remember-me-when-the-west-wind-moves-among-the-fields-of-barley/)

[Eva Cassidy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-cassidy/)

## More by Gustave Flaubert

> [As for the piano, the faster her fingers flew over it, the more he marveled. She struck the keys with aplomb and ran from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/as-for-the-piano-the-faster-her-fingers-flew-over-it-the-more-he/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

> [Caught up in life, you see it badly. You suffer from it or enjoy it too much. The artist, in my opinion, is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/caught-up-in-life-you-see-it-badly-you-suffer-from-it-or-enjoy-it-too/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

> [“When one does something, one must do it wholly and well. Those bastard existences where you sell suet all day and write poetry at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/when-one-does-something-one-must-do-it-wholly-and-well-those-bastard/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

> [Isn’t ‘not to be bored’ one of the principal goals of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/isn-t-not-to-be-bored-one-of-the-principal-goals-of-life/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

> [Love is a springtime plant that perfumes everything with its hope, even the ruins to which it clings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/love-is-a-springtime-plant-that-perfumes-everything-with-its-hope/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

> [“But her life was as cold as an attic facing north; and boredom, like a silent spider, was weaving its web in the shadows,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/but-her-life-was-as-cold-as-an-attic-facing-north-and-boredom-like-a/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

> [When you reduce a woman to writing, she makes you think of a thousand other women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/when-you-reduce-a-woman-to-writing-she-makes-you-think-of-a-thousand/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

> [Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/travel-makes-one-modest-you-see-what-a-tiny-place-you-occupy-in-the/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

> [“We must not touch our idols; the gilt sticks to our fingers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/we-must-not-touch-our-idols-the-gilt-sticks-to-our-fingers/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

> [A superhuman will is needed in order to write, and I am only a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/a-superhuman-will-is-needed-in-order-to-write-and-i-am-only-a-man/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

> [The writer must wade into life as into the sea, but only up to the navel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/the-writer-must-wade-into-life-as-into-the-sea-but-only-up-to-the/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

> [COLD. Healthier than heat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/cold-healthier-than-heat/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

> [And indeed, what is better than to sit by one's fireside in the evening with a book, while the wind beats against the window…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/and-indeed-what-is-better-than-to-sit-by-one-s-fireside-in-the/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

> [One's existence should be in two parts: one should live like a bourgeois and think like a demigod.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/one-s-existence-should-be-in-two-parts-one-should-live-like-a/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

> [Emma was no asleep, she was pretending to be asleep; and, while he was dozing off at her side, she lay awake, dreaming other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/emma-was-no-asleep-she-was-pretending-to-be-asleep-and-while-he-was/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

[Explore all 526 Gustave Flaubert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

## More Barley quotes

> [You'll remember me when the west wind moves. Among the fields of barley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-cassidy/you-ll-remember-me-when-the-west-wind-moves-among-the-fields-of-barley/)

[Eva Cassidy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-cassidy/)

> [He called her: mother of pearl, barley woman, rice provider, millet basket, corn maid, flax princess, all-maker, weef She called him: fawn, roebuck, stag,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-grahn/he-called-her-mother-of-pearl-barley-woman-rice-provider-millet/)

[Judy Grahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-grahn/)

> [Only reapers, reaping early In among the bearded barley, Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly, Down to towered Camelot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/only-reapers-reaping-early-in-among-the-bearded-barley-hear-a-song/)

[Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/)

> [Tabloid discussion of bad children always blames baby-boomer liberals, careerist mothers and fashion-crazed Nathan Barley types who think it's all enormously funny. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-york/tabloid-discussion-of-bad-children-always-blames-baby-boomer-liberals/)

[Peter York](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-york/)

> [One of the products I swear by is Sante Barley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piolo-pascual/one-of-the-products-i-swear-by-is-sante-barley/)

[Piolo Pascual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piolo-pascual/)

> [It was understood that nothing of a tender nature could possibly be confided to old Barley, by reason of his being totally unequal to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/it-was-understood-that-nothing-of-a-tender-nature-could-possibly-be/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [The human diet consists of just nine plants: corn, rice, wheat, potatoes, cassava, sorghum, millet, beans, barley, rye and oats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/the-human-diet-consists-of-just-nine-plants-corn-rice-wheat-potatoes/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [Barley and mushroom is a soothing combination. It's mainly a textural thing, with the barley both gently breaking and enhancing the mushroomy gloopiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yotam-ottolenghi/barley-and-mushroom-is-a-soothing-combination-it-s-mainly-a-textural/)

[Yotam Ottolenghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yotam-ottolenghi/)

> [When I’m a Duchess,” she said to herself (not in a very hopeful tone though), “I won’t have any pepper in my kitchen at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/when-i-m-a-duchess-she-said-to-herself-not-in-a-very-hopeful-tone/)

[Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/)

> [ I was just an infant when \[Fannie Lou\] Hamer spoke - barley even awake in the world. But here she was, pressing the Democratic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-d-daughtry/i-was-just-an-infant-when-fannie-lou-hamer-spoke-barley-even-awake-in/)

[Leah D. Daughtry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-d-daughtry/)

> [Once upon a Lammas Night When corn rigs are bonny, Beneath the Moon's unclouded light, I held awhile to Annie... The time went by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-burns/once-upon-a-lammas-night-when-corn-rigs-are-bonny-beneath-the-moon-s/)

[Robert Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-burns/)

> [Cabbage soup and barley. They're Russia's national food. Both excellent in their way, but a shade monotonous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pushkin/cabbage-soup-and-barley-they-re-russia-s-national-food-both-excellent/)

[Alexander Pushkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pushkin/)

> [“Grains: Barley, corn, durum, fonio, Job’s tears, kamut, millet, oats, rice, rye,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ballantyne/grains-barley-corn-durum-fonio-job-s-tears-kamut-millet-oats-rice-rye/)

[Sarah Ballantyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ballantyne/)

> [Barley, where it succeeds, yields a larger weight of feed per acre than any other small grain crop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-f-houston/barley-where-it-succeeds-yields-a-larger-weight-of-feed-per-acre-than/)

[David F. Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-f-houston/)

> [I give a lot of credit to Barley. He was aggressive on defense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-paul/i-give-a-lot-of-credit-to-barley-he-was-aggressive-on-defense/)

[Chris Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-paul/)

[Browse all 40 Barley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barley/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Everything depends on the value we give to things. We are the ones who make morality and virtue. The cannibal who eats his neighbor is as innocent as the child who sucks his barley-sugar.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Gustave Flaubert"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/everything-depends-on-the-value-we-give-to-things-we-are-the-ones-who/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Barley"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/everything-depends-on-the-value-we-give-to-things-we-are-the-ones-who/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/gustave-flaubert-354_barley_everything-depends-on-the-value-we-give_962804.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/gustave-flaubert-354_barley_everything-depends-on-the-value-we-give_962804.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c54/gustave-flaubert-354_barley_everything-depends-on-the-value-we-give_962804.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Everything depends on the value we give to things. We are the ones who make morality and virtue. The…” — Gustave Flaubert",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Gustave Flaubert",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Everything depends on the value we...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/everything-depends-on-the-value-we-give-to-things-we-are-the-ones-who/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/everything-depends-on-the-value-we-give-to-things-we-are-the-ones-who/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```