John Stuart Mill Quotes
Every executive function, whether superior or subordinate, should be the appointed duty of some given individual. It should be apparent to all the world who did everything, and through whose default anything was left undone. Responsibility is null when nobody knows who is responsible. Nor, even when real, can it be divided without being weakened.
John Stuart Mill, 1806-1873, Member of Parliament, British Political Economist, Representative Government, 1861
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This is the earliest use of the “pass the buck” phrase in politics that we have found. The term originated in gambling. In a poker game, the “buck” was a physical object token that would be passed from player to player to indicate who was to deal.
John Stuart Mill, usually cited as J. S. Mill, was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament, and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to social theory, political theory, and political economy. Dubbed "the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century", he conceived of liberty as justifying the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state and social control.
