I’m doing a personal passion project asking people from all countries for examples of values, philosophies, value systems, or belief systems from various nations’ cultures—for instance, [ikagai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai) from Japan or [sisu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisu) from Finland. Please share some from Belgian culture and provide your definition (in English). I would really appreciate your help. Don’t worry if it doesn’t have a direct translation in English; your unique point of is what I’m looking for. I recognize many of these words don’t have direct English translations. Thank you.

31 comments

  1. That no matter what happens, the government will always be corrupt and there are 0 people in government and the State you can trust. It’s called “common sense”.

  2. “Burgundian lifestyle” is a phrase often used by Belgians. It refers to an enjoyment of the pleasurable things in life, most notably good food. It comes from our history (these lands used to be part of the possessions of the Dukes of Burgundy, who had a very opulent lifestyle).

  7. Tirer son plan / Zijn plan trekken :’figuring it out yourself, without caring much about others’.

    ​

    When you see some of our houses (uglyhousebelgium) it’s a very Belgian thing.

    ​

    Also in other domains, we make it our way and don’t care as long as it works.

  11. Catholicism and frugality: feel guilty, work hard, save a lot, spend and flaunt little. Take no risks and stick to the norm. Don’t stand out and don’t brag.

  13. I’m sorry but what the others are saying doesn’t seem specific to Belgium. Have a look at this.

    [Belgitude](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgitude)

    I’m not sharing the EN or NL versions because they aren’t as complete. Here’s the quote that I believe describes best what our values/philosphy are, as Belgians:

    “This is belgitude, the idea that to be Belgian is to have the identity of non-identity, to be small, tiny, without depth, mediocre, hybrid… all faults claimed as such and which, assumed, become the current Belgian glory. Moreover, (…) it is the negation of all belonging, the acceptance of emptiness, nonsense, wandering, non-place, emptiness as being full. »

  15. Being mediocre and rather happy with it. It’s a two edged blade in the sense it’s really comfortable but also pretty discouraging when you want to actually do things.

  16. Be humble and work hard without complaining

    But also complain about everything else at every possible opportunity, ideally passive-aggressively, without actually attempting to change anything

  20. Flemish one would be “naarstigheid”, or working hard.

    Doesn’t matter the result, mind you: a person that works hard but has terrible sense will still be lauded for being a hard worker. An example would be former prime minister Yves Leterme, who “worked hard” (was in long meetings) but accomplished fuck all. Still seen as a hero by many just for putting in the work.

    It also works in reverse: if the Flemish see a successful person, they’ll assume it’s a hard worker, even if they are just good at exploiting government subsidies or their workers, or set a lower ethics bar than their competitors.

  22. Drive-in shops for alcohol and alcohol only. Like you drive there and buy crates and crates of beer or wine or spirits. Instead of a supermarket or an off license, they’re closer to what an Australian would call a bottle shop. Like wholesale cash-and-carry for alcohol without needing to be a caterer retailer or any sort of membership like Makro or Cosco. Just drive up and fill your vehicle with booze.

  24. Wether you disagree with what someone just said to you or

    you mean something different than how one interprets what you just said

    or in many other situations where your sentence should start with ‘no’,

    always start your sentence with ‘yes’, immediately followed by ‘no’.

    ​

    A bit like Vicky from ‘Little Britain’ does the ‘yeah, but, no, but, yeah but,…’.

    Only not repeatedly as a sentence but consitently each and every time!

  26. “Het is wat het is” – “It is what it is”

    Nothing makes sense here, but nobody really cares. Perhaps the reason why surrealism in art and culture had and has a large foundation here.

    And “lintbebouwing”, there is less more Belgian than the lack of urban planning.

  31. The categorical imperative of Kant is a guiding principle in open societies: treat others as you would like to be treated

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