#propriety

"The proprieties are the guiding principle of people without soul and virtue. The good opinion of the world is a prostitute, who gives herself to the highest bidder."

"Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way."

“Understanding the nonrational significance of norms is one of the great achievements of the Scottish Enlightenment, especially as that approach was synthesized in Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments. Smith had a vision of what he called “the system of natural liberty,” in which sentiments come first, and principles of law follow, as inference rather than deduction. But this system requires that people care about propriety, acting well, and receiving the approval of others in their society.”

She hesitated when he offered his arm while they walked . . . Was it proper? . . . She took his arm.

He was a man of propriety and rules. They had sustained him and guided him all his life, and he felt obliged to honour them even now.

It wasn't done, and England was a place where what wasn't done had a force greater than any statute.

Propriety also got an update tonight