A final consequence and evidence of the loss of our conviction of the worth and dignity of the person is that we have lost the sense of the tragic significance of human life. For the sense of tragedy is simply the other side of one’s belief in the importance of the human individual. Tragedy implies a profound respect for the human being and a devotion to his rights and destiny—otherwise it just doesn’t matter whether Orestes or Lear or you or I fall or stand in our struggles.
