Universalistic cultures believe that social values and standards take precedence over individual needs or claims by friends and relations; rules are intended to apply equally to the whole "universe" of members. Exceptions serve only to weaken the rule of law. For example, a rule that people should bear truthful witness in a court of law or give their honest judgment to an insurance company concerning a payment it is about to make is more important than particular family or friendship ties. This is not to say that particular ties are unimportant in universalistic cultures; rather, universal truth as embodied in the law is believed to be more important than these relationships. By contrast, particularistic cultures see the ideal culture in terms of human friendship, extraordinary achievement, unique situations, and close personal relationships. The spirit of the law is deemed to be more important than the letter of the law. Clearly, there are rules and laws in particularistic cultures, but these are designed simply to codify how people relate to one another. Rules are needed (if only to be able to make exceptions to them for particular cases), but people need to be able to count on their friends.