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:
“Duties are not performed for dutys sake, but because their neglect would make the man uncomfortable. A man performs but one dutythe duty of contenting his spirit, the duty of making himself agreeable to himself.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (18351910)
“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 (18091865)
“[Womens] duty is nothing else than the fulfilment [sic] of the whole moral law, the attainment of every human virtue.”
—Frances Power Cobbe (18221904)