Of Human Dignity

Consider that by calling a newly met person by his first name you have actually reduced his individuality. He is now only one of a million Joes or one of ten thousand Josephines. His connection with his family name, with his ancestors, and with his provenance has been severed. Alas, this is but one illustration of how the exaggeration of democracy inevitably leads to the degradation of human dignity.
—John Lukacs, Remembered Past, “61. Teaching,” Note 4, p. 876.