We only know of one duty, and that is to love.

Albert Camus (1913 - 1960)

It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs.

Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955), 'Treasury¹ for the Free World,' 1946

The first duty of a leader is to make himself be loved without courting love. To be loved without 'playing up' to anyone - even to himself.

Andre Malraux (1901 - 1976)

I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty...This is my highest and best use as a human.

Ben Stein, E! Online, 12-20-03

A sense of duty is useful in work, but offensive in personal relations. People wish to be liked, not be endured with patient resignation.

Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970), Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 10

The first duty of a man is the seeking after and the investigation² of truth.

Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

There are some duties we owe even to those who have wronged us. There is, after all, a limit to retribution and punishment.

Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

There is no duty more obligatory³ than the repayment⁴ of kindness.

Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

There is no such thing as luck. It's a fancy name for being always at our duty, and so sure to be ready when good time comes.

Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803 - 1873)

Majesty⁵: when a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares it as his duty.

George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950), Caesar and Cleopatra, act III

When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.

George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950), Caesar and Cleopatra (1901) Act III

The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill⁶ another.

George Eliot (1819 - 1880)

We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.

Henry John Temple Palmerston, Remarks in the House of Commons, March 1, 1848

The paths of glory at least lead to the grave, but the paths of duty may not get you any where.

James Thurber (1894 - 1961)

The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms strength into right, and obedience⁷ into duty.

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712 - 1778), The Social Contract, 1762

How can you come to know yourself? Never by thinking, always by doing. Try to do your duty, and you'll know right away what you amount to.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Duty is ours, results are God's.

John Quincy Adams (1767 - 1848)

Life is not so important as the duties of life.

John Randolph (1773 - 1833)

A duty dodged⁸ is like a debt unpaid⁹; it is only deferred¹⁰, and we must come back and settle the account at last.

Joseph F. Newton

When you have a number of disagreeable duties to perform, always do the most disagreeable first.

Josiah Quincy

I take it as a man's duty to restrain himself.

Lois McMaster Bujold, Ethan of Athos, 1986

The dead cannot cry out for justice; it is a duty of the living to do so for them.

Lois McMaster Bujold, Diplomatic Immunity¹¹, 2002

Do something every day that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.

Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

The first duty of love is to listen.

Paul Tillich (1886 - 1965), O Magazine, February 2004

Duty then is the sublimest¹² word in the English language. You should do your duty in all things. You can never do more, you should never wish to do less.

Robert E. Lee (1807 - 1870)

There is no duty we so much underrate as the as the duty of being happy.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), An Apology for Idlers, 1874

There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894)

Be eager to fulfill the smallest duty and flee from transgression¹⁴" target="_blank">transgression¹³ for one duty includes another and one transgression induces another transgression.

The Talmud, We Have Met the Enemy: Self-Control in an Age of Excess, 2011

Property has its duties as well as its rights.

Thomas Brummond

He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent¹⁵ that will reach to himself.

Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809)