A weakened sense of responsibility does not weaken the fact of responsibility.
—William Bennett (b.1943) American Politician, Political Theorist, Government Official
People think responsibility is hard to bear. It’s not. I think that sometimes it is the absence of responsibility that is harder to bear. You have a great feeling of impotence.
—Henry Kissinger (b.1923) American Diplomat, Academician
If you take responsibility for yourself you will develop a hunger to accomplish your dreams.
—Les Brown
The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.
—Denis Waitley (b.1933) American Motivational Speaker, Author
Freedom is not the right to do what we want, but what we ought. Let us have faith that right makes might and in that faith let us; to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Life affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege, than the raising of the next generation.
—C. Everett Koop (1916–2013) American Physician, Government Official
No one will dare maintain that it is better to do injustice than to bear it.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Debt is a trap which man sets and baits himself, and then deliberately gets into.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
We need to teach the next generation of children from day one that they are responsible for their lives. Mankind’s greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear.
—Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (1926-2004) American Psychiatrist
You are free to choose, but the choices you make today will determine what you will have, be and do in the tomorrow of your life.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
As human beings, we are endowed with freedom of choice, and we cannot shuffle off our responsibility upon the shoulders of God or nature. We must shoulder it ourselves. It is up to us.
—Arnold J. Toynbee (1889–1975) British Historian
Liberty not only means that the individual has both the opportunity and the burden of choice; it also means that he must bear the consequences of his actions…. Liberty and responsibility are inseparable.
—Friedrich Hayek (1899–1992) British Economist, Social Philosopher
Power without responsibility—the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages.
—Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) British Children’s Books Writer, Short story, Novelist, Poet, Journalist
It is the responsibility of leadership to provide opportunity, and the responsibility of individuals to contribute.
—C. William Pollard (b.1938) American Businessman
Why do children want to grow up? Because they experience their lives as constrained by immaturity and perceive adulthood as a condition of greater freedom and opportunity. But what is there today, in America, that very poor and very rich adolescents want to do but cannot do? Not much: they can “do” drugs, “have” sex, “make” babies, and “get” money (from their parents, crime, or the State). For such adolescents, adulthood becomes synonymous with responsibility rather than liberty. Is it any surprise that they remain adolescents?
—Thomas Szasz (1920–2012) Hungarian-American Psychiatrist, Psychoanalyst
Provision for others is a fundamental responsibility of human life.
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American Head of State
Responsibility walks hand in hand with capacity and power.
—Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819–81) American Editor, Novelist
We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
The important thing is to concentrate upon what you can do—by yourself, upon your own initiative.
—Harry Browne (1933–2006) American Politician, Investor, Writer
One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And, the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
The happiest people in the world are those who feel absolutely terrific about themselves, and this is the natural outgrowth of accepting total responsibility for every part of their life.
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
“It’s a question of discipline,” the little prince told me later on. “When you’ve finished washing and dressing each morning, you must tend your planet”.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–44) French Novelist, Aviator
Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.
—Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–80) French Philosopher, Playwright, Novelist, Screenwriter, Political Activist
To repel one’s cross is to make it heavier.
—Henri Frederic Amiel (1821–81) Swiss Moral Philosopher, Poet, Critic
Those who are unwilling to invest in the future haven’t earned one.
—Harold Warren Lewis
We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
Enough! It’s time to grow up. If we want to play adult games—living our Dream—we must play by adult rules. One of the primary adult rules: We are individually responsible for our own lives.
—John-Roger, Peter McWilliams
It is tempting at one level to believe that bad things happen to people (especially other people) because God is a righteous judge who gives them exactly what they deserve. By believing that we keep the world orderly and understandable…. But [this belief] has a number of serious limitations…. It teaches people to blame themselves. It creates guilt when there is no basis for guilt. And most disturbing of all, it does not even fit the facts.
—Harold Kushner (b.1935) American Jewish Religious Leader, Priest
Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.
—Tony Robbins (b.1960) American Self-Help Author, Entrepreneur
One must care about a world one will not see.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
Freedom is the will to be responsible to ourselves.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
We’re in a fight for our principles and our first responsibility is to live by them.
—George W. Bush (b.1946) American Head of State, Businessperson
I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.
—Robert A. Heinlein (1907–88) American Science Fiction Writer
A man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life.
—James Allen (1864–1912) British Philosophical Writer
When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that four of his fingers are pointing to himself.
—Louis Nizer (1902–1994) American Lawyer, Author
Be more aware of responsibility than you are of your rights.
—Unknown
Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will – his personal responsibility in the realm of faith and morals.
—Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French Theologian, Musician, Philosopher, Physician
If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders.
—Pauline Phillips (Abigail van Buren) (b.1918) American Columnist
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
The reason people blame things on the previous generations is that there’s only one other choice.
—Doug Larson (1926–2017) American Columnist
You take on the responsibility for making your dream a reality.
—Les Brown
Taking responsibility means being aware of where and when you are NOT taking responsibility so that you can eventually change.
—Susan Jeffers (1938–2012) American Psychologist, Self-Help Author
The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That’s the day we truly grow up.
—John C. Maxwell (b.1947) American Christian Professional Speaker, Author, Clergyman
Perhaps we have been misguided into taking too much responsibility from our children, leaving them too little room for discovery
—Helen Hayes (1900–93) American Actor, Philanthropist
All men, if they work not as in the great taskmaster’s eye, will work wrong, and work unhappily for themselves and for you.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
You can’t escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.
—Viktor Frankl (1905–97) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist
Responsibility is the possibility of opportunity culminating in inevitable fulfillment.
—Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) Indian Yoga Teacher
Ef you take a sword an’ dror it,
An’ go stick a feller thru,
Guv’ment ain’t to answer for it,
God’ll send the bill to you.
—James Russell Lowell (1819–91) American Poet, Critic
The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist