Writing on democratic values, R.S. Peters, a distinguished professor at the University of London, has stated:
''Democracy is a way of life in which high value is placed on the development of reason and principles such as freedom, truth-telling, impartiality, and respect for persons, which the use of reason in social life presupposes.''
And on the question of making ourselves and others happy he has written: ''Respect for persons surely demands that the individual should be encouraged to make something of himself, to find some role, occupation, or activity with which he can identify himself and achieve some kind of self-fulfillment.''