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.
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Famous quotes containing the word duty:
“No man who acts from a sense of duty ever puts the lesser duty above the greater. No man has the desire and the ability to work on high things, but he has also the ability to build himself a high staging.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Poor Casey Jones he was all right,
He stuck by his duty both day an’ night,”
—Unknown. Casey Jones. . .
Oxford Book of Light Verse, The. W. H. Auden, ed. (1938)
“Life is mostly froth and bubble.
Two things stand like stone:
Dodging duty at the double,
Leaving work alone.”
—Anonymous.