“It’s easy to respect the rights of the pretty people, the popular ones, the charming folk, the nice guys.  No one’s going to run roughshod over Mr. Rogers’ rights.  We probably don’t need a Constitution to protect the Prom Queen.  It’s the assholes we need to write the rules for.  It’s harder to treat them well, to be fair to them, to refrain from punching them.  So 200-some years ago, we wrote a contract with ourselves to make sure we would always respect the rights of the worst among us. 

It’s easy to treat the good people well.  But the true measure of our character is how we treat the bad ones.  We choose to treat them fairly and with respect.  And I think it’s awesome.”

– From Preaching to the Choir