Edmund Burke Quotes

It is a sin not to do what one is capable of doing.

It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do.

We are not only responsible for what we do but also for what we do not do.

Duty is what no-one else will do at the moment.

An action, to have moral worth, must be done from duty.

Duty is what goes most against the grain, because in doing that we do only what we are strictly obliged to, and are seldom much praised for it.

Obligation may be stretched till it is no better than a brand of slavery stamped on us when we were too young to know its meaning.

Do your duty today and repent tomorrow.

Duty does not consist in suffering everything, but in suffering everything for duty. Sometimes, indeed, it is our duty not to suffer.

Stern daughter of the voice of God! O Duty! if that name thou love Who art a light to guide, a rod To check the erring and reprove.

Yes, it is difficult for man to cross beyond the idea of duty.

duty, the most indecent of all obsessions, was only another name for love.

Duty is that mode of action on the part of the individual which constitutes the best possible application of his capacity to the general benefit.

Reason shows us our duty; he who can make us love our duty is more powerful than reason itself.

Duty is one and invariable; it requires no impossibilities, nor can it ever be disregarded with impunity.

I urge you by all this is dear, by all that is honorable, by all that is sacred, not only that you pray but also that you act!

Duty is whatever opposes inclination.

I did only what my duty demanded. I could have taken no other course without dishonor.

We need to restore the full meaning of that old word, duty. It is the other side of rights.

The wretched have no compassion, they can do good only from strong principles of duty.

In doing what we ought we deserve no praise, because it is our duty.

Tom Clarke is dead. He has not our responsibilities. Nobody will ever know what he would do for the situation did not arise for him. But is has risen for us and we must face it with our intelligence and conscious of our responsibility.

Right therefore and obligation are, as logicians express it, correllative terms; one of these ideas necessarily supposes the other; and we cannot conceive a right without a corresponding obligation.

Must we always do our duty? If so, how are we always to know what is our duty?

We have, all of us, our duties. Every action of our lives, and every word that we utter, will either conduce to or detract from the discharge of our duty.