"One thing that has happened to the subject in general is it has become less a subject of moral aspiration and more a matter of enforceable law," Mr. Leubsdorf said.

Stewart's lectures addressed women's rights, moral and educational aspiration, occupational advancement, and the abolition of slavery, all from the position of a firm Christian.

Right or wrong, honored in the breach or the observance, that is a moral aspiration of the highest order.

Here, the most high-minded artistic and moral aspirations coexist with hype, corporate self-congratulation and a ravening hunger for money and attention.

Political realism refuses to identify the moral aspirations of a particular nation with the moral laws that govern the universe.

His work is often identified with the social and moral aspirations of the Guatemalan people.

When designing policies, it's most important to get them to complement, not undermine, people's permanent moral aspirations - the longing for freedom, faith and family happiness.

Moving embodiment of the highest moral aspirations can spring from the pens of people whose lives are depressing studies in expediency, and witty people can write music that is earnest and bland.

Or is it our personally best soul-say, the one that indwells in us at the height of our cognitive powers and moral aspirations?

Doesn't great art intrinsically lift the human spirit and reflect our highest moral and spiritual aspirations?