Each object has properties that describe how that object looks and behaves. Objects are usually based on an object template and inherit some of their property settings from the template. This means that you can update the settings of all related objects at once by modifying the template, and your standards will remain consistent. Modifying the template is also faster than setting each property every time you create a new object.
When the label of a setting is blue, it means the setting is inherited from the object's template. Such inherited settings cannot be directly changed. For example, when you base a Book object on the Normal template, you'll notice that the Include object in settings on the General tab are all inherited.