“Dignity is the discipline of restraint, refined through generations.
It stands nearest to power precisely because it never seeks its gaze.”
Prototype Language
World Languages
Cultural Languages
Nordic Languages
Northeastern Languages
Balkan / Oriental Languages
Languages Neighboring German
Non-European Cultural Languages
At last it is understood
that community
is not chosen, but upheld,
formed within the circle
by continuity and rule,
requiring restraint,
granting place without indulgence,
and leaving each soul
to carry dignity.
Dignity
People recognise one another
by the dignity they accord each other.
It reveals itself
in the respect of boundaries,
and in the resolve to uphold them.
Across time and distance,
it endures,
without fading.
Yet every person knows
the troubling thought
of not being worthy enough.
When parting draws near,
it becomes clear
how weighty dignity truly is —
more than possession,
more than influence.
It reaches beyond
a single lifetime.
Dignity deepens
through a life lived,
through what one has borne —
unless one is broken.
Through hardship,
through humiliation,
until memory itself erodes
who one once was.
Love exists everywhere.
Only when it is allowed to lead
does suffering loosen its hold.
Then dignity
may become visible once more.
