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Duty: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations
Thanks to the gods! my boy has done his duty.— ADDISON — Cato. Act IV. Sc. 4.
In doing what we ought we deserve no praise, because it is our duty.— ST. AUGUSTINE
He who is false to present duty breaks a thread in the loom, and will find the flaw when he may have forgotten its cause.— HENRY WARD BEECHER — Life
Thoughts. Maintain your post: That's all the fame you need; For 'tis impossible you should proceed.— DRYDEN — TO Mr. Congreve, on his
Comedy "The Double Dealer." Not aw'd to duty by superior sway.— DRYDEN — Eleonora. L. 178.
And rank for her meant duty, various, Yet equal in its worth, done worthily. Command was service; humblest service done By willing and discerning souls was glory.— GEORGE ELIOT — Agatha.
The reward of one duty is the power to fulfil another.— GEORGE ELIOT — Daniel Deronda. Bk. VI. Ch. XLVI.
So nigh is grandeur to our dust, So near is God to man. When Duty whispers low, Thou must, The youth replies, I can.— EMERSON — Voluntaries. St. 3. L. 13.
When I'm not thank'd at all, I'm thank'd enough: I've done my duty, and I've done no more.— FIELDING — Tom Thumb. Act I. Sc. 3.
In common things the law of sacrifice takes the form of positive duty.— FROUDE — Short Studies on Great
Subjects. Sea Studies. Let no guilty man escape, if it can be avoided. No personal consideration should stand in the way of performing a public duty.— ULYSSES S. GRANT — Indorsement of a
Letter relating to the Whiskey Ring, July 29, 1875. Hath the spirit of all beauty Kissed you in the path of duty?— ANNA KATHARINE GREEN — On the
Threshold. Then on! then on! where duty leads, My course be onward still.— S. BISHOP HEBER — Journal.
I slept and dreamed that life was Beauty; I woke, and found that life was Duty :- Was thy dream then a shadowy lie?— ELLEN STURGIS HOOPER — Duty.
Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.— ABRAHAM LINCOLN — Address.
Feb. 21, 1859. New occasions teach new duties. St.— LOWELL — The Present Crisis.
Thet tells the story! Thet's wut we shall git By tryin' squirtguns on the burnin' Pit; For the day never comes when it'll du To kick off dooty like a worn-out shoe.— LOWELL — The Biglow Papers. No. 11.
Every mission constitutes a pledge of duty. Every man is bound to consecrate his every faculty to its fulfilment. He will derive his rule of action from the profound conviction of that duty.— MAZZINI — Life and Writings. Young
Europe. General Principles. The things which must be, must be for the best, God helps us do our duty and not shrink, And trust His mercy humbly for the rest. OWEN MEREDITH (Lord Lytton)- Imperfection. Zeal and duty are not slow; But on occasion's forelock watchful wait.— MILTON — Paradise Regained. Bk. III. L. 172.
Knowledge is the hill which few may wish to climb; Duty is the path that all may tread.— LEWIS MORRIS — Epic of Hades.
Quoted by John Bright at Unveiling of Cobden Statue. England expects every man will do his duty.— HORATIO NELSON — Southey's Life of
Nelson. (See description of his last battle.) Thy sum of duty let two words contain, (O may they graven in thy heart remain!) Be humble and be just.— PRIOR — Solomon on the Vanity of the World. Bk. III,
And I read the moral-A brave endeavour To do thy duty, whate'er its worth, Is better than life with love forever, And love is the sweetest thing on earth.— JAMES J. ROCHE — Sir Hugo's Choice.
We require from buildings, as from men, two kinds of goodness: first, the doing their practical duty well: then that they be graceful and pleasing in doing it; which last is itself another form of duty.— RUSKIN — The Stones of Venice. Vol. I. Ch. II.
Les délicats sont malheureux, Rien ne saurait les satisfaire. The fastidious are unfortunate: nothing can satisfy them.— LA FONTAINE — Fables. II. 1.
Le devoir des juges est de rendre justice, leur métier est de la différer; quelques uns savent leur devoir, et font leur métier. A judge's duty is to grant justice, but his practice is to delay it: even those judges who know their duty adhere to the general practice.— LA BRUYÈRE — Les Caractères.
Was aber ist deine Pflicht? Die Forderung des Tages. But what is your duty? What the day de mands.— GOETHE — Sprüche in Prosa. III. 151.