Quotes about Duty

A task becomes a duty from the moment you suspect it to be an essential part of that integrity which alone entitles a man to assume responsibility.

Religion was important to me. My family and I were very religious. I acctualy believe the work I did was a calling from God himself.

Well, I must say, Algernon, that I think it is high time that Mr. Bunbury made up his mind whether he was going to live or to die. This shilly-shallying with the question is absurd. Nor do I in any way approve of the modern sympathy with invalids. I consider it morbid. Illness of any kind is hardly a thing to be encouraged in others. Health is the primary duty of life.

The aim of life is self-development. To realise one's nature perfectly-that is what each of us is here for. People are afraid of themselves, nowadays. They have forgotten the highest of all duties, the duty that one owes to one's self.

My duty as a gentleman has never interfered with my pleasures in the smallest degree.

Do the nieces come to see her? Oh, yes, now and then, out of a spirit of duty. But they dread these visits. They know they will have to sit and listen for hours to half-veiled reproaches. They will be treated to an endless litany of bitter complaints and self-pitying sighs. And when this woman can no longer bludgeon, browbeat, or bully her nieces into coming to see her, she has one of her "spells." She develops a heart attack.

Aristotle called this land of attitude "enlightened selfishness." Zoroaster said, "Doing good to others is not a duty. It is a joy, for it increases your own health and happiness." And Benjamin Franklin summed it up very simply—"When you are good to others," said Franklin, "you are best to yourself.

I can't imagine the pressure you must be under to have the weight of an entire country on your shoulders.

Humble yourself. This is your one duty.

There is a distinctive emphasis by Jesus on loving your neighbor, your "near dweller," not upon loving "humanity" or "everyone."19 What this means is that our duty and our virtue is to love those with whom we are in effectual contact—those we can really do something about.

What is the point of standing up for rights in a world where few stand up for their responsibilities? Your rights will do you little good unless others are responsible

Dogma is what you have to believe, whether you believe it or not. And law is what you must do, whether it is good for you or not.