We focus on values that are universal, that is, those that are shared by everyone … or at least the vast majority of people, at least in public, in societies that, when left to themselves, are as peaceful and prosperous as a society can be. For example: honesty, personal responsibility, loyalty, teamwork, optimism, respect for others, and—dare we add to the traditional wish list … a universal wish?—romantic love.

We want to find common ground for common sense in the practice, in the same way that the framers of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights found common ground in theory: they decided to limit themselves—and it was no little thing, given all the countries and cultures involved—to shining a light on “certain things [that] are so terrible in practice that no one will publicly approve them and … certain things [that] are so good in practice that no one will publicly oppose them.1” They knew that their propositions begged the fundamental question “why,” but their work was honest, it united people, and it advanced their prosperity and freedom.

1 Mary Ann Glendon, A World Made New, 2001, Random House, p. 222