#duty

Remember that you are an actor in a drama, of such a kind as the author pleases to make it. If short, of a short one; if long, of a long one.

If it be the author's pleasure you should act a poor man, a cripple, a governor, or a private person, see that you act it naturally.

Do you not know that a good man does nothing for the sake of appearance, but solely for the sake of doing right?

Love is not something that is a duty. Love is an act of total, uncalculated delight.

The god appointed me to the duty of leading the philosophical life, examining myself and examining others.

A man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to consider whether what he is doing is right or wrong.

Wherever a man has taken a position that he believes to be best, there he must remain and face danger, taking into account neither death nor anything else before dishonor.

Men of Athens, I honor and love you; but I will obey the god rather than you, and as long as I have breath and strength I will never cease from philosophy.

We make war that we may live in peace.

Most men expose themselves to danger enough in war to save their honor, but few are willing to expose themselves as much as the success of the enterprise requires.

I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.

A man is great by deeds, not by birth.

Give up all desire for fruit; do the work for the sake of the work, because it is good.

Civilization is that mode of conduct which points out to man the path of duty.

Rights that do not flow from duty well performed are not worth having.

Your highest duty is to realize your oneness with the Divine.

Stand firm in your duties and let the world take note.

Do that which is assigned you, and you cannot hope too much or dare too much.

The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.

Do your human best, then entrust the outcome to heaven.

You have a sovereign right over your labor, but never over the fruits thereof.

Duty performed with absolute detachment leaves behind no residue of sorrow or regret.

A single stone in the wall of the caravanserai is neither king nor slave, yet without it, the roof collapses.

The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.

The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government, is to live under the government of worse men.

The craft of the ruler is not to look out for his own interest, but for the interest of the subject.

Execute every act of your life as though it were your last, free from all vanity and despair.

Do what is necessary, and whatever the reason of a social animal requires, and in the manner in which it requires.

Do not be ashamed of being helped. It is your duty to achieve your work, like a soldier on the battlements.

Every morning, remind yourself of the fellowship of all rational beings, and remember that you were born to cooperate with them.