Values are the Irreducible Atoms of Ethics

Anything that has to be expressed in more than one word is either a value for which no simple word has been created, or it is not a value but a moral rule derived from values. A value should be seen as something irreducible and not a construction.
It is not a passion like love and hate, which merely state what human beings are. It is not a comment on values, such as definitions of them as good or evil. It is not whether we are educated, or healthy, without which there would be no people or communities able to have values.
Values express how both people and communities relate together, and to their "god" or how "he" relates to them.
Freedom, Equality, Responsibility, Diversity, Altruism, Egoism, Integrity, Rights, Duty, Anarchism, Uniformity, ......... Perhaps some values may be seen as more important than others, but it would be a mistake to ignore any of them
The outstanding feature of these is that some values act in two directions, and define other values which may therefore be called end-values. As stated elsewhere, freedom is a value that relates to anarchism and to altruism. Anarchists have their freedom limited by the egoism of others, altruists have their freedom limited by their duty to others. Duty is to the whole and everyone or to authority and its "god". Duty for the anarchist is only to himself, which is no duty. For those who are free, the ego is that of the individual and for those who are not it is the ego of the state.
The end values we choose depend on what we already are, including our pragmatism. With a value based ethic, those who are altruists or have a religion that is not prescriptive, some form of Utilitarianism would appear to be suitable.