--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My primary object is to defend and…" description: "\"My primary object is to defend and advance a principle in which I see the only possible relief from much that enthralls and degrades and distorts, turn..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/408/henry-george-8103_darkness_my-primary-object-is-to-defend-and-advan_801275.jpg" --- # My primary object is to defend and advance a principle in… ![“My primary object is to defend and advance a principle in which I see the only possible relief from much that enthralls and degrades and distorts, turning light to darkness and good to evil, rather than to gage a philosopher or weigh a philosophy. Yet the examination I propose must lead to a…” quote by Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/408/henry-george-8103_darkness_my-primary-object-is-to-defend-and-advan_801275.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/408/henry-george-8103_darkness_my-primary-object-is-to-defend-and-advan_801275.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/408/henry-george-8103_darkness_my-primary-object-is-to-defend-and-advan_801275.jpg) > “My primary object is to defend and advance a principle in which I see the only possible relief from much that enthralls and degrades and distorts, turning light to darkness and good to evil, rather than to gage a philosopher or weigh a philosophy. Yet the examination I propose must lead to a decisive judgment upon both.” [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote argues that philosophical inquiry should aim to protect a principle that counters corruption and moral decay, rather than merely judging philosophers or ideas. **In simple terms:** Protect a principle against corruption, not just judge ideas. Key Takeaway Focus on defending core values. Themes ethics philosophy corruption justice Mood reflective serious Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - political activism - academic debate - policy formulation - ethical education Key Concepts Moral relativism principle defense critical inquiry Questions to Reflect On - How can we apply this principle in everyday decisions? - What concrete steps protect it from corruption? A Different Perspective The principle may be too abstract for practical action without concrete guidelines. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Decision making](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decision-making/) [Decisive Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decisive-judgment-6134628/) [Degrade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degrade/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Examination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/examination/) [Integrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/integrity/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Objects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objects/) [Philosopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosopher/) [Philosopher Weigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosopher-weigh-6134630/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Philosophy Examination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-examination-6134629/) [Primaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/primaries/) [Principle Possible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principle-possible-1603436/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Propose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/propose/) [Relief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relief/) ## Related quotes > [No perfect solution is, not merely in practice, but in principle, possible in human affairs, and any determined attempt to produce it is likely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-berlin/no-perfect-solution-is-not-merely-in-practice-but-in-principle/) [Isaiah Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-berlin/) > [It is the great glory as well as the great threat of science that everything which is in principle possible can be done if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/it-is-the-great-glory-as-well-as-the-great-threat-of-science-that/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [No principle, that is possible to be named, can be more self-evidently false than this; or more self-evidently fatal to all political freedom. Yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysander-spooner/no-principle-that-is-possible-to-be-named-can-be-more-self-evidently/) [Lysander Spooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysander-spooner/) > [The decision to give an indicative date for a return is a mistake. It degrades the process. It degrades human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-trimble/the-decision-to-give-an-indicative-date-for-a-return-is-a-mistake-it/) [David Trimble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-trimble/) > [So much of the habitat destruction and pollution is based on the simple principle that we somehow have been given free license over other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/so-much-of-the-habitat-destruction-and-pollution-is-based-on-the/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [If you've got the platform and the ability to make a difference, then this goes beyond 'should' and reaches the level of 'must.' You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/if-you-ve-got-the-platform-and-the-ability-to-make-a-difference-then/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [“And she looked upon the mirror that was given as a gift. She hated everything about it, from the circular size of it, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/and-she-looked-upon-the-mirror-that-was-given-as-a-gift-she-hated/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [You degrade us and then ask why we are degraded. You shut our mouths and ask why we don't speak. You close your colleges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/you-degrade-us-and-then-ask-why-we-are-degraded-you-shut-our-mouths/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [... one pets what one degrades; and one has to support what one has enfeebled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-bottome/one-pets-what-one-degrades-and-one-has-to-support-what-one-has/) [Phyllis Bottome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-bottome/) > [Psychoanalysis is a technique we practice at our cost; psychoanalysis degrades our risks, our dangers, our depths; it strips us of our impurities, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/psychoanalysis-is-a-technique-we-practice-at-our-cost-psychoanalysis/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [For God to be kept out of the classroom or out of America's public debate by nervous school administrators or overcautious politicians serves no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-gibbs/for-god-to-be-kept-out-of-the-classroom-or-out-of-america-s-public/) [Nancy Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-gibbs/) > [Any time you can degrade or take away the top leadership of an organization, it's a positive step forward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/any-time-you-can-degrade-or-take-away-the-top-leadership-of-an/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [What more degrades woman today than that she so often seeks marriage as a support? Why is the holy sacrament of love, the sanctity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-c-ames/what-more-degrades-woman-today-than-that-she-so-often-seeks-marriage/) [Mary C. Ames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-c-ames/) > [So far as discipline is concerned, freedom means not its absence but the use of higher and more rational forms as contrasted with those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/so-far-as-discipline-is-concerned-freedom-means-not-its-absence-but/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [Money degrades all the gods of man and converts them into commodities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/money-degrades-all-the-gods-of-man-and-converts-them-into-commodities/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) ## More by Henry George > [No theory is too false, no fable too absurd, no superstition too degrading for acceptance when it has become embedded in common belief. Men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/no-theory-is-too-false-no-fable-too-absurd-no-superstition-too/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [Private ownership of land is the nether mill-stone. Material progress is the upper mill-stone. Between them, with an increasing pressure, the working classes are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/private-ownership-of-land-is-the-nether-mill-stone-material-progress/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [As it becomes more and more difficult to get land, so will the virtual enslavement of the laboring-classe s go on. As the value…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/as-it-becomes-more-and-more-difficult-to-get-land-so-will-the-virtual/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [In all the new states of the Union, land monopolization has gone on at an alarming rate, but in none of them so fast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/in-all-the-new-states-of-the-union-land-monopolization-has-gone-on-at/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [The ideal social state is not that in which each gets an equal amount of wealth, but in which each gets in proportion to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/the-ideal-social-state-is-not-that-in-which-each-gets-an-equal-amount/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [The state, it cannot too often be repeated, does nothing, and can give nothing, which it does not take from somebody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/the-state-it-cannot-too-often-be-repeated-does-nothing-and-can-give/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [It is not from top to bottom that societies die; it is from bottom to top.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/it-is-not-from-top-to-bottom-that-societies-die-it-is-from-bottom-to/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [That amid our highest civilization men faint and die with want is not due to the niggardliness of nature, but to the injustice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/that-amid-our-highest-civilization-men-faint-and-die-with-want-is-not/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [I do not think that any sorrow of youth or manhood equalled in intensity or duration the black and hopeless misery which followed the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/i-do-not-think-that-any-sorrow-of-youth-or-manhood-equalled-in/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [What protectionism teaches us, is to do to ourselves in time of peace what enemies seek to do to us in time of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/what-protectionism-teaches-us-is-to-do-to-ourselves-in-time-of-peace/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [It is too narrow an understanding of production which confines it merely to the making of things. Production includes not merely the making of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/it-is-too-narrow-an-understanding-of-production-which-confines-it/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [It is not the business of government to make men virtuous or religious, or to preserve the fool from the consequences of his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/it-is-not-the-business-of-government-to-make-men-virtuous-or/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [Social progress makes the well-being of all more and more the business of each.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/social-progress-makes-the-well-being-of-all-more-and-more-the/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [Let no man imagine that he has no influence. Whoever he may be, and wherever he may be placed, the man who thinks becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/let-no-man-imagine-that-he-has-no-influence-whoever-he-may-be-and/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [The value of a thing is the amount of laboring or work that its possession will save the possessor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/the-value-of-a-thing-is-the-amount-of-laboring-or-work-that-its/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) [Explore all 84 Henry George quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) ## More Darkness quotes > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Even in darkness your lips taste of sunshine”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/even-in-darkness-your-lips-taste-of-sunshine/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [“Defy me not for gleam can only shine in my existence" said Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/defy-me-not-for-gleam-can-only-shine-in-my-existence-said-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What does he look like? The question was soft- tentative. I knew who he meant. I interlaced my fingers through Rhysand's and squeezed tightly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/what-does-he-look-like-the-question-was-soft-tentative-i-knew-who-he/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. A lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tagliabue/the-dream-of-coming-back-is-becoming-a-reality-a-lot-of-the/) [Paul Tagliabue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tagliabue/) > [“Life is like coffee, the darker it gets, the more it energizes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankita-singhal/life-is-like-coffee-the-darker-it-gets-the-more-it-energizes/) [Ankita Singhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankita-singhal/) > [Twinking tears in a sea of black. Soft light in a world of darkness. Tiny wishes in a place of dreams. Do you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-gentile/twinking-tears-in-a-sea-of-black-soft-light-in-a-world-of-darkness/) [Nicole Gentile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-gentile/) [Browse all 8,219 Darkness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My primary object is to defend and advance a principle in which I see the only possible relief from much that enthralls and degrades and distorts, turning light to darkness and good to evil, rather than to gage a philosopher or weigh a philosophy. 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