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Civility in sentence

156 examples of Civility in a sentence

And given this, I think one might be forgiven, as I did, for assuming that because so much civility talk is bullshit, well then, the virtue of civility must be bullshit, too.
Because remember, the same early modern crisis of civility that launched the Reformation also gave birth to tolerant societies, places like Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and indeed, eventually the United States, places that at least aspired to protect disagreement as well as diversity, and what made that possible was the virtue of civility.
What made disagreement tolerable, what it made it possible for us to share a life, even when we didn't share a faith, was a virtue, but one, I think, that is perhaps less aspirational and a lot more confrontational than the one that people who talk about civility a lot today tend to have in mind.
So I like to call that virtue "mere civility."
Because to be merely civil is to meet a low bar grudgingly, and that, again, makes sense, because civility is a virtue that's meant to help us disagree, and as Hobbes told us all those centuries ago, disagreeable means unpleasant for a reason.
But if it isn't bullshit, what exactly is civility or mere civility?
Well, to start, it is not and cannot be the same thing as being respectful or polite, because we need civility precisely when we're dealing with those people that we find it the most difficult, or maybe even impossible, to respect.
Being merely civil means not pulling our punches, but at the same time, it means maybe not landing all those punches all at once, because the point of mere civility is to allow us to disagree, to disagree fundamentally, but to do so without denying or destroying the possibility of a common life tomorrow with the people that we think are standing in our way today.
And in that sense, I think civility is actually closely related to another virtue, the virtue of courage.
So mere civility is having the courage to make yourself disagreeable, and to stay that way, but to do so while staying in the room and staying present to your opponents.
And it also means that, sometimes, calling bullshit on people's civility talk is really the only civil thing to do.
But look, if I've learned anything from studying the long history of religious tolerance in the 17th century, it's this: if you're talking about civility as a way to avoid an argument, to isolate yourself in the more agreeable company of the like-minded who already agree with you, if you find yourself never actually speaking to anyone who really, truly, fundamentally disagrees with you, well, you're doing civility wrong.
But this unique brand of tongue-in-cheek humor is just one of the many feats found in her sly satires of society, civility, and sweeping romance.
Elmore Leonard's stories usually have a central image involving a bizarre civility between criminal and law-abiding citizen.
At the drop of a hat people drop all pretenses of civility, or fail to stick up for the things in which they believe, or are exposed for something far less respectable than their place in society assumes.
Several members of the cult are interviewed; they make strikingly cogent remarks about the human race's self-destructive war-like nature, petty religious squabbles, the appalling lack of civility and communication in our society, the infamous Roswell incident, the American government's cover-up of information concerning the existence of UFOs, and their desire to educate the ignorant public about what's really going down.
Unilke the kindness and respect portrayed in Grand Illusion (Renoir's account of prison camp civility from WWI), Ballad of a Soldier leans a bit more toward Triumph of the Will in its seemingly unrealistic depiction of authority figures.
Like any market, however, the marketplace of ideas needs regulation: in particular, its participants should be bound by norms of honesty, humility, and civility.
I cannot guarantee that reading more widely will teach him honesty, humility, and civility.
Of course, a breakdown in political civility would hardly make the US unique; all too many countries suffer some degree of political dysfunction.
The world’s major powers should concentrate on strengthening international strategic stability through dialogue; reopening channels of communications between militaries; and restoring civility to their interactions.
That protection comes at a price: if not a loss of civility, then certainly of urban mobility, as cars clog the roads.
Surprisingly, for such an extensive, cynically efficient cluster of humanity, the city displayed surprising civility and solidarity during and after the attacks.
At a personal level, I am also afraid that Lugar’s defeat may be the end of an era of enormously attractive and distinctive civility in the way that America’s most senior legislators conducted themselves.
In fact, he really is a kind of outlaw, with no use for norms of civility in government.
The core values of China’s government are not informed by the humane civility of Tang or Song poets, but by the twisted dialectics of Marxism-Leninism and the amoral militaristic tradition of a party that still cherishes its often brutish and violent habits of governance.
At the outset of his premiership six months ago, Monti declared himself to be an admirer of all things Danish – the country’s “society, economy, and civility.”
In each case, the “civil” in civil disobedience has been conflated with civility, as in politeness or general respectability.
Finally, and most important, let us hope that terrorism is thwarted everywhere, conflicts subside, democracy and capitalism regain some momentum, and greater civility and honest dialogue return to the public domain.
His patience, civility, and politics of reconciliation provided me a better example of democracy and good governance than any civics class could have done.
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