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:
“It is my duty to prevent, through the independence of Cuba, the U.S.A. from spreading over the West Indies and falling with added weight upon other lands of Our America. All I have done up to now and shall do hereafter is to that end.... I know the Monster, because I have lived in its lair—and my weapon is only the slingshot of David.”
—José Martí (1853–1895)
“Duties are not performed for duty’s sake, but because their neglect would make the man uncomfortable. A man performs but one duty—the duty of contenting his spirit, the duty of making himself agreeable to himself.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“The abominable doctrine taught in the pulpit, the press, in books and elsewhere, is that the whole duty of women is self- abasement and self-sacrifice. I do not believe subjection is woman’s duty any more than it is the duty of a man to be under subjection to another man or many men. Women have the right of independence, of conscience, of will and of responsibility.”
—Anna Howard Shaw (1847–1919)