  Thus, moral principles and rules may emerge from or evolved by a particular human society; even so, they are principles that can—and do—apply to all human societies inasmuch as they respond to basic human needs, interests, and purposes. When the Akan moralist maintains, for instance, that ‘To possess virtue is better than gold’, or ‘When virtue founds a town, the town thrives and abides’, he strongly believes that he is making a moral statement—he is enunciating a moral principle—that transcends his own community and applies not only to other towns in his nation but, indeed, to all human societies, just as Socrates surely intended his celebrated moral statement ‘Virtue is knowledge’ (whether true or not) to apply to peoples and cultures beyond Athens and Greece, even beyond fifth century Greece. Thus, the moral intent of the morally-freighted proverbs (or maxims) discussed in this entry is considered relevant to the moral life of the human being and, as such, is purported to have universal application or reference.