Each is under the most sacred obligation not to squander the material committed to him, not to sap his strength in folly and vice,... and to see at the least that he delivers a product worthy the labor and cost which have been expended on him.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
... so large a portion of those who hold much capital, instead of using their various advantages for the greatest good of those ar...ound them, employ the chief of them for mere selfish indulgences; thus inflicting as much mischief on themselves, as results to others from their culpable neglect. A great portion of the rich seem to be acting on the principle, that the more God bestows on them, the less are they under obligation to practise any self-denial, in fulfilling his benevolent plan of raising our race to intelligence and holiness.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
If a poet has any obligation toward society, it is to write well. Being in the minority, he has no other choice. Failing this duty..., he sinks into oblivion. Society, on the other hand, has no obligation toward the poet. A majority by definition, society thinks of itself as having other options than reading verses, no matter how well written. Its failure to do so results in its sinking to that level of locution at which society falls easy prey to a demagogue or a tyrant. This is society's own equivalent of oblivion.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Such reproductions may not interest the reader; but after all, this is my autobiography, not his; he is under no obligation to rea...d further in it; he was under none to begin.... A modest or inhibited autobiography is written without entertainment to the writer and read with distrust by the reader.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Patience, to hear frivolous, impertinent, and unreasonable applications: with address enough to refuse, without offending; or, by ...your manner of granting, to double the obligation: dexterity enough to conceal a truth, without telling a lie: sagacity enough to read other people's countenances: and serenity enough not to let them discover anything by yours; a seeming frankness, with a real reserve. These are the rudiments of a politician; the world must be your grammar.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Resistance is feasible even for those who are not heroes by nature, and it is an obligation, I believe, for those who fear the con...sequences and detest the reality of the attempt to impose American hegemony.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Given the choice, children who don't want for anything will not save....We have an obligation as parents to give our children what... they need. What they want we can give them as a special gift, or they can save their money for it.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
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.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »