Throughout history, morals have always been regarded as a set of rules, arbitrary and set by some outside source. For example, in western Europe the morals were set by the Catholic Church, and were very much arbitrary and immutable(by the common folk). In fact, they were more of a code of laws than a set of morals. They were a tool for the control of the masses. This concept of morals has dragged the word down. The word still bears connotations of restraint, of repression. In the present day, however, morals are no longer shaped by institutions, but by the self. Since we ourselves create them, they are not something which restrains us, but something which defines us. Our own, personal, individual morals become as much a part of us as our voice or our face. They help us to define our actions in accordance to our personality, they help us to convey our selves to the outside world with our actions.