Pope John Paul II Quotes

Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right to do what we ought.

True liberty consists only in the power of doing what we ought to well, and in not being constrained to do what we ought not to do.

May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.

Absolute liberty is absence of restraint; responsibility is restraint; therefore, the ideally free individual is responsible to himself.

Freedom is not the liberty do anything whatsoever. It is the freedom to do good

The disciplined are free.

There are two freedoms - the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where he is free to do what he ought.

The only freedom I care about is the freedom to do right; the freedom to do wrong I am ready to part with on the cheapest terms to anyone who will take it of me.

We all know our duty better than we discharge it.

When we, through our educational culture, through the media, through the entertainment culture, give our children the impression that human beings cannot control their passions, we are telling them, in effect, that human beings cannot be trusted with freedom.

Yes, we have the freedom to do what we please, but it only works because we don't do everything we might please - we should exercise some degree of personal, and corporate, responsibility.

A man can do what he ought to do; and when he says he cannot, it is because he will not.

If we do not discipline ourselves the world will do it for us.

But there is a corollary to freedom and that's personal responsibility, and the real challenge is how you generate that personal responsibility without imposing it.

Freedom isn't to do what you want at somebody else's expense.

Freedom is good when the person can use it appropriately. Otherwise it is a disaster.

Anything which tends to bring a greater sense of responsibility to individuals should be encouraged.

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.

Freedom comes with responsibility.

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

Duty, then is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more; you should never wish to do less.

Freedom is one of the principal goals of human endeavor, but the best use man can make of his freedom is to place limitations upon it.

Freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness. That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.

True freedom is not the liberty to do anything we please, but the liberty to do what we ought; and it is genuine liberty because doing what we ought now pleases us

There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.