E. B. White Quotes

Duties and rights are reciprocal

Rights! There are no rights whatever without corresponding duties.

Responsibility is the price every man must pay for freedom.

We have the Bill of Rights. What we need is a Bill of Responsibilities.

But we must create in each person a sense of responsibility in order that each one of us can have the right to enjoy all his rights.

I think that anything that has privileges have responsibility and all people that is clear about their responsibility has compromise.

There is no entitlement without a duty.

The time has come to accept in our hearts and minds that with freedom comes responsibility.

Strong rights presume strong responsibilities.

Freedom requires civil responsibility.

When you come to Denmark, you have the chance to live in a free, peaceful country with access to free education, free medical aid and the opportunity to work. To benefit from that requires responsibility. If you don't assume that responsibility, it is a breach in trust.

In any civilized society, it is every citizen's responsibility to obey just laws. But at the same time, it is every citizen's responsibility to disobey unjust laws.

We've placed a lot of emphasis in this country on the idea of people's rights. That's how it should be, but it makes no sense to talk about rights without also talking about responsibilities.

Just because you have a right to do something in America does not mean it is the right thing to do.

It is reasonable that everyone who asks justice should do justice

Our privileges can be no greater than our obligations. The protection of our rights can endure no longer than the performance of our responsibilities.

There is accumulation. There is responsibility. And beyond this there is great unrest.

Liberty is a duty, not a right.

Liberty and responsibility are inseparable.

Liberty is not a right but a duty.

Every right is married to a duty, every freedom owes a corresponding responsibility.

People tend to forget their duties but remember their rights.

I suppose that is my central obsession. What we owe to society, what we owe to ourselves.

Ideally citizens are to think of themselves as if they were legislators and ask themselves what statutes, supported by what reasons satisfying the criterion of reciprocity, they would think is most reasonable to enact.

In the nineties, everybody wants to talk about their rights and privileges. Twenty-five years ago, people talked about their obligations and responsibilities.