Responsibility quotes
5.3K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside responsibility — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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"Certainly the Republican Party changed and I never changed, as I became an independent my values never changed whether it's on fiscal responsibility, environment or using government tools to help the less fortunate."
"We have a responsibility toward the other life-forms of our planet whose continued existence is threatened by the thoughtless behavior of our own human species. . . . Environmental responsibility – for if there is no God, then, obviously, it is up to us to put things right."
"We, as humans, have actually developed a sense of social responsibility. We have gone beyond our basic instincts. We can and we do. This is what sets us apart from the chimps. They are extremely brutal and hostile. Your next door neighbor is to be killed unless she is a juicy young female, who hasn't yet had her first baby, in which case you want her."
"Surely it should be a matter of moral responsibility that we humans, different from other animals mainly by virtue of our more highly developed intellect and, with it, our greater capacity for understanding and compassion, ensure that medical progress slowly detaches its roots from the manure of non-human animal suffering and despair."
"When you meet chimps you meet individual personalities. When a baby chimp looks at you it's just like a human baby. We have a responsibility to them."
"[The] arresting of time is photography's unique capacity, and the decision of when to click the shutter is the photographer's chief responsibility."
"A prig always finds a last refuge in responsibility."
"All I want is' - and he uttered the final words through clenched teeth and with a sort of shame - 'to retain my freedom.' I should myself have thought,' said Jacques, 'that freedom consisted in frankly confronting situations into which one had deliberately entered, and accepting all one's responsibilities. But that, no doubt, is not your view."
"I do have some kind of gravitational pull towards young characters with more responsibility than they should have."
"I'm the youngest in a family where I didn't have to take responsibility for much."
"The emotion, the ecstasy of love, we all want, but God spare us the responsibility."
"My responsibility in the past, when I was sleeping outside every night, was just to survive. My responsibility now is to stay real, stay grounded, and just tell the truth."
"Lose this day loitering 'Twill be the same old story, Tomorrow and the next, Even more dilatory. Whatever you would do, Or dream of doing, begin it! Boldness has power, genius, and magic in it. Begin it now."
"I desire no other inscription over my gravestone than: 'Here lies John Adams, who took upon himself the responsibility of peace with France in the year 1800'."
"Our responsibility is one of decision, for to govern is to choose."
"To each of us is entrusted the heavy responsibility of guiding the affairs of a democratic nation founded on Christian ideals."
"The function and responsibility of the President is to set before the American people the unfinished business, the things we must do if we are going to succeed as a nation."
"My responsibility is to try to tell true stories. To me a true story is always hopeful, but never simply, uncomplicatedly happy."
"It is customary for the recipient of this award to offer personal or scholarly comment on the nature and the direction of literature. At this particular time, however, I think it would be well to consider the high duties and the responsibilities of the makers of literature."
"I really care about this stuff, I care about movies, and you just have to be strong and don't be stupid; freedom of choice is a big responsibility, and I'm lucky enough not to have to just take any movie to pay the rent, so there's no need to be greedy."
