Francis Atterbury Quotes

It is seldom very hard to do one's duty when one knows what it is, but it is often exceedingly difficult to find this out.

We wrestle with the political issues of who has stewardship over life.

It is impossible to deny that people in power face more temptations than ordinary citizens.

There is no power or authority without responsibility, and he who accepts the one cannot escape or evade the other.

The trouble is that once you see it, you can't unsee it. And once you've seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing, becomes as political an act as speaking out. There's no innocence. Either way, you're accountable.

With great power comes great responsibilty.

The price of greatness is responsibility.

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

Not my power, but the power of the position, a power which could be used to help.

It takes tremendous discipline to control the influence, the power you have over other people's lives.

The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another.

It is a universal and fundamental political principle that the power to protect can safely be confided only to those interested in protecting, or their responsible agents - a maxim not less true in private than in public affairs.

And, if there was any responsibility in refusing to obey, he was willing to accept it.

When a man assumes leadership, he forfeits the right to mercy.

The risk to be percieved defines the duty to be obeyed.

I am the guardian of power, not its owner.

Good men must not obey the laws too well.

I think that if there are positions that you can't argue... then the responsibility is probably to resign. If one's own conscience is opposed to the requirements and responsibilities of the job, then it's time to leave the job.

To the victor belong the responsibilities.

It would perhaps be nice to be alternately the victim and the executioner.

I do not mean that you could continue to do this with propriety or even with safety; I merely assert that the power is, in point of fact, in your hands. And for such a power, what a responsibility to God and man!

Withholding information that would get innocent people killed was the right thing to do, not a journalistic sin.

Evil, when we are in its power, is not felt as evil, but as a necessity, even a duty.

Power never takes a back step—only in the face of more power.

My fundamental axiom of government is never to trust the lamb to the wolf.