Duty
Duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; Old French: deu, did, past participle of devoir; Latin: debere, debitum, whence "debt") is a term that conveys a sense of moral commitment or obligation to someone or something. The moral commitment should result in action; it is not a matter of passive feeling or mere recognition. When someone recognizes a duty, that person theoretically commits themself to its fulfillment without considering their own self-interest. This is not to suggest that living a life of duty entirely precludes a life of leisure; however, its fulfilment generally involves some sacrifice of immediate self-interest. Typically, "the demands of justice, honor, and reputation are deeply bound up" with duty.
Read more about Duty.
Famous quotes containing the word duty:
“an age of unscrupulous and shameless book-making, it is a duty to give notice of the rubbish that cumbers the ground. There is no credit, no real power required for this task. It is the work of an intellectual scavenger, and far from being specially honourable.”
—Richard Holt Hutton (18261897)
“Here, my dear Lucy, hide these books. Quick, quick! Fling Peregrine Pickle under the toilettethrow Roderick Random into the closetput The Innocent Adultery into The Whole Duty of Man; thrust Lord Aimworth under the sofa! cram Ovid behind the bolster; thereput The Man of Feeling into your pocket. Now for them.”
—Richard Brinsley Sheridan (17511816)
“The first duty of government is to see that people have food, fuel, and clothes. The second, that they have means of moral and intellectual education.”
—John Ruskin (18191900)