If you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something about it. — John Lewis
We all have a moral obligation to leave this world a better place than the world that we've found. — Tim McIlrath
I think you have a moral responsibility when you've been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently. — J. K. Rowling
There is a moral obligation, I think, not to ally oneself with power against the powerless. — Chinua Achebe
There are moments in Life when keeping silent becomes a fault, and speaking an obligation. A civic duty, a moral challenge, a categorical imperative from which we cannot escape. — Oriana Fallaci
Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected. — George Washington
If you truly believe that what you have is useful and valuable to your clients, then you have a moral obligation to try to serve them in every way possible. — Jay Abraham
universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality. — Arthur Schopenhauer
Noblesse oblige; or, superior advantages bind you to larger generosity. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
It is our moral obligation to give every child the very best education possible. — Desmond Tutu
Every right implies a responsibility; Every opportunity, an obligation, Every possession, a duty. — John D. Rockefeller
Morality is a private and costly luxury. — Henry Adams
One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. — Martin Luther King, Jr.
Moral principle is the foundation of law. — Ronald Dworkin
Those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action. — Nicolas Cage
There is no duty more obligatory than the repayment of kindness. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Morality may consist solely in the courage of making a choice. — Leon Blum
When our interests and values are at stake, we have a responsibility to act. — Barack Obama
We can't exempt ourselves from the same moral calculus that we are willing to apply to others. — Michael Eric Dyson
It would be immoral to leave young people with a climate system spiraling out of control. — James Hansen
Moral Obligation Image Quotes
Maturity is learning to walk away from people and situation that threaten your peace of mind, self respect, values, morals and self worth.
Moral Duty Quotes
Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it towards others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be in our troubled world. — Etty Hillesum
The first duty of the novelist is to entertain. It is a moral duty. People who read your books are sick, sad, traveling, in the hospital waiting room while someone is dying. Books are written by the alone for the alone. — Donna Tartt
The propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained... — George Washington
A clear conscience is the sure sign of a bad memory.
Neither god, nor angels, or just men, command you to suffer for a single moment. Therefore it is your solemn and imperative duty to use every means, both moral, intellectual, and physical that promises success. — Henry Highland Garnet
If you would make a man happy, study not to augment his goods; but to diminish his wants. One of the greatest services Christianity has rendered the world has been its consecration of poverty, and its elevation of labor to the dignity of a moral duty. — Orestes Brownson
To renounce liberty is to renounce being a man, to surrender the rights of humanity and even its duties. For he who renounces everything no indemnity is possible. Such a renunciation is incompatible with man's nature; to remove all liberty from his will is to remove all morality from his acts. — Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Respect for the truth comes close to being the basis for all morality.
I think coercive taxation is theft, and government has a moral duty to keep it to a minimum. — William Weld
In my view, aiming at simplicity and lucidity is a moral duty of all intellectuals: lack of clarity is a sin, and pretentiousness is a crime. — Karl Popper
The preservation of health is a duty. Few seem conscious that there is such a thing as physical morality. — Herbert Spencer
The only ground of hope for the continuance of our free institutions is in the proper moral and religious training of the children, that they may be prepared to discharge aright the duties of men and citizens. — Zachary Taylor
Moral Responsibility Quotes
The fidelity of a dog is a precious gift demanding no less binding moral responsibilities than the friendship of a human being. — Konrad Lorenz
...morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings, that indifference to evil is worse than evil itself, that in a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible. — Abraham Joshua Heschel
The most valuable "currency" of any organization is the initiative and creativity of its members. Every leader has the solemn moral responsibility to develop these to the maximum in all his people. This is the leader's highest priority. — W. Edwards Deming
Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.
Our moral responsibility is not to stop future, but to shape it...to channel our destiny in humane directions and to ease the trauma of transition. — Alvin Toffler
I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. — Robert A. Heinlein
I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. — Robert A. Heinlein
Bad company ruins good morals.
Someone ought to do it, but why should I? Someone ought to do it, so why not I? Between these two sentences lie whole centuries of moral evolution. — Annie Besant
If ethics are poor at the top, that behavior is copied down through the organization. — Robert Noyce
Anarchism, to me, means not only the denial of authority, not only a new economy, but a revision of the principles of morality. It means the development of the individual as well as the assertion of the individual. It means self-responsibility, and not leader worship. — Voltairine de Cleyre
Sound morals, religious liberty, and a just sense of religious responsibility are essentially connected with all true and lasting happiness. — William Henry Harrison
Social Obligation Quotes
The sexual freedom of today for most people is really only a convention, an obligation, a social duty, a social anxiety, a necessary feature of the consumer's way of life. — Pier Paolo Pasolini
You're obliged to pretend respect for people and institutions you think absurd. You live attached in a cowardly fashion to moral and social conventions you despise, condemn, and know lack all foundation. — Octave Mirbeau
Sharing our meals should be a joyful and a trustful act, rather than the cursory fulfillment of our social obligations. — M. F. K. Fisher
The purpose of morality is to teach you, not to suffer and die, but to enjoy yourself and live.
Not until the creation and maintenance of decent conditions of life for all men are recognized and accepted as a common obligation of all men and all countries — not until then shall we, with a certain degree of justification, be able to speak of mankind as civilized. — Albert Einstein
For Aboriginal leaders, the social and moral obligation that comes with community leadership is life-long. Those who lead, who have authority, must care for and look after those who come behind. — Patrick Dodson
The love of individual freedom has stood in the way of the appreciation of social obligations. — Goparaju Ramachandra Rao
The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.
Human beings exercise responsibilities within a social setting and a framework of obligations which transcend the principle of intelligence. — Michael Polanyi
One great thing about getting old is that you can get out of all sorts of social obligations just by saying you're too tired. — George Carlin
Respect for human rights is not social work; it is not merely an act of compassion. It is the first obligation of government and the source of its legitimacy. — Ronald Reagan
Real morality is possible when the sanctions for morality are also tangible and real. Therefore, atheism shifts the basis of morality from faith in god to obligations of social living. Moral conduct is not a passport to heaven; it is social necessity. — Goparaju Ramachandra Rao
Moral Imperative Quotes
The search for justice and security, the struggle for equality of opportunity, the quest for tolerance and harmony, the pursuit of human dignity - these are moral imperatives which we must work towards and think about on a daily basis. — Aga Khan IV
Universal education is not only a moral imperative but an economic necessity, to pave the way toward making many more nations self-sufficient and self-sustaining. — Desmond Tutu
Only conservatives believe that subversion is still being carried on in the arts and that society is being shaken by it. Advanced art today is no longer a cause --it contains no moral imperative. There is no virtue in clinging to principles and standards, no vice in selling or in selling out. — Harold Rosenberg
Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere.
The idea of democracy has been stripped of it moral imperatives and come to denote hollowness and hypocrisy. — Paul Wellstone
Again, although I'm not a particularly religious person, I go back to the religious left that I come out of: There are moral imperatives to fight back. As Daniel Berrigan says, "We're called to do the good." And then we have to let it go. It's not our job to know where the good goes. — Chris Hedges
To act without rapacity, to use knowledge with wisdom, to respect interdependence, to operate without hubris and greed are not simply moral imperatives. They are an accurate scientific description of the means of survival. — Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth
I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.
While we are actually subjected to them, the 'moods' and 'spirits' of nature point no morals. Overwhelming gaiety, insupportable grandeur, sombre desolation are flung at you. Make what you can of them, if you must make at all. The only imperative that nature utters is, 'Look. Listen. Attend. — C. S. Lewis
If those committed to the quest fail, they will be forgiven. When lost, they will find another way. The moral imperative of humanism is the endeavor alone, whether successful or not, provided the effort is honorable and failure memorable. — E. O. Wilson
Whether you believe it a moral imperative or in the rich world's enlightened self-interest, securing the conditions that will lead to a healthy, prosperous future for everyone is a goal I believe we all share. — Bill Gates
After the first establishment of identity there comes the imperative need to lose this new-found sense of separateness and to belong to something larger and more powerful than the weak, lonely self. The sense of moral isolation is intolerable to us. — Carson Mccullers
The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. — Soren Kierkegaard
Whatever defamation of character my enemies are spreading about me, I do not feel the need to justify myself toward them. While discretion obliges me to remain silent, my duty compels me to prevent them from doing any more harm. — Toussaint Louverture
I'd say a man is someone who is strong-minded, moral, genuine, just a good human beeing.
From my earliest youth, I have known that while one is obliged to plan with care the stages of one's journey, one is entitled to dream, and keep dreaming, of its destination. — Shimon Peres
They fought together as brothers in arms; they died together and now they sleep side by side. To them we have a solemn obligation. — Chester W. Nimitz
In the marriage union, the independence of the husband and wife will be equal, their dependence mutual, and their obligations reciprocal. — Lucretia Mott
I am not carrying on a war of extermination against the Romans. I am contending for honor and empire. My ancestors yielded to Roman valour. I am endeavouring that others, in their turn, will be obliged to yield to my good fortune, and my valour. — Hannibal
My sweetest Joy is to be in the presence of Jesus in the holy Sacrament. I beg that when obliged to withdraw in body, I may leave my heart before the holy Sacrament. How I would miss Our Lord if He were to be away from me by His presence in the Blessed Sacrament! — Katharine Drexel
Don't ever promise more than you can deliver, but always deliver more than you promise. — Lou Holtz
The highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is bearing arms. — George S. Patton
Moral Ethics Quotes
Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the oftener and more steadily we reflect on them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. — Immanuel Kant
Do the right thing because it is right. — Immanuel Kant
How sweet to be a Cloud. Floating in the Blue! — A. A. Milne
Solidarity is based on the principle that we are willing to put ourselves at risk to protect each other. — Starhawk
The meaning of life is pretty clear: Living things strive to pass their genes into the future. The claim that we would not have morals or ethics without religion is extraordinary. Animals in nature seem to behave in moral ways without organized religion. — Bill Nye
My selective memory of what drinking was like told me that standing at the bar in a pub, on a summer's evening with a long, tall glass of lager and lime was heaven, and I chose not to remember the nights on which I had sat with a bottle of vodka, a gram of coke and a shotgun, contemplating suicide. — Eric Clapton
Stand for something. Don't quest for popularity at the expense of morality and ethics and honesty. — Howard Cosell
People who try hard to do the right thing always seem mad. — Stephen King
The assumption that animals are without rights, and the illusion that our treatment of them has no moral significance, is a positively outrageous example of Western crudity and barbarity. Universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality. — Arthur Schopenhauer
You can’t have a moral society without sound money. — Robert Breedlove
Moral Aspect Quotes
The idea of winning a doctor's degree gradually assumed the aspect of a great moral struggle, and the moral fight possessed immense attraction for me. — Elizabeth Blackwell
I suppose if I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal.... Every soldier thinks something of the moral aspects of what he is doing. But all war is immoral and if you let that bother you, you're not a good soldier. — Curtis LeMay
The modern dilemma is essentially a spiritual one, and every one of its main aspects, moral, political and scientific, brings us back to the need of a religious solution. — Christopher Dawson
We would, however, perform an injustice to the bourgeois women's rights movement if we would regard it as solely motivated by economics. No, this movement also contains a more profound spiritual and moral aspect. — Clara Zetkin
Fantasy allows you bend the world and the situation to more clearly focus on the moral aspects of what's happening. In fantasy you can distill life down to the essence of your story. — Terry Goodkind
I have my ethics and morals. I have my anchor point of what is right and wrong in real life, but I'm not afraid to entertain any and every aspect of personality in relationship to creating a character. — Corin Nemec
Sex education, including its spiritual aspects, should be part of a broad health and moral education from kindergarten through grade twelve, ideally carried out harmoniously by parents and teachers. — Benjamin Spock
The moral and spiritual aspects of both personal and international relationships have a practical bearing which so-called practical men deny. — Henry A. Wallace
We observe with confidence that the truly strong mind, view it as intellect or morality, or under any other aspect, is nowise the mind acquainted with its strength; that here the sign of health is unconsciousness. — Thomas Carlyle
The most distressing aspect of the world into which you are going is its indifference to the basic issues, which now, as always, are moral issues. — Robert M. Hutchins
Individual Morality Quotes
Freedom, morality, and the human dignity of the individual consists precisely in this; that he does good not because he is forced to do so, but because he freely conceives it, wants it, and loves it. — Mikhail Bakunin
There is a moral law in this world which has its application both to individuals and organized bodies of men. You cannot go on violating these laws in the name of your nation, yet enjoy their advantage as individuals. We may forget truth for our conv — Rabindranath Tagore
Some are able and humane men and some are low-grade individuals with the morals of a goat, the artistic integrity of a slot machine, and the manners of a floorwalker with delusions of grandeur. — Raymond Chandler
The Islamic ethic is that if God has given you the capacity or good fortune to be a privileged individual in society, you have a moral responsibility to society. — Aga Khan IV
Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country. — Karl Kraus
For everything I do, I think about a 6-year-old girl and her mom that I saw at my concert last night. I think about what those two individuals would think if I were at a club last night. I never want to be arrested, and I never want to get a DUI, those are my moral values. — Taylor Swift
Most men are individuals no longer so far as their business, its activities, or its moralities are concerned. They are not units but fractions. — Woodrow Wilson
The individual makes a clear effort to define moral values and principles that have validity and application apart from the authority of the groups of persons holding them and apart from the individual's own identification with the group. — Lawrence Kohlberg
Whoso is full of sacred (religious, moral, humane) love loves only the spook, the "true man," and persecutes with dull mercilessness the individual, the real man. — Max Stirner
As in Machiavelli, the bearing of arms is the essential medium through which the individual asserts both his social power and his participation in politics as a responsible moral being; but the possession of land in nondependent tenure is now the material basis for bearing of arms. — J. G. A. Pocock
Moral Action Quotes
Unless the will is free, man has no freedom; and if he has no freedom he is not a moral agent, that is, he is incapable of moral action and also of moral character. — Charles Grandison Finney
Protest to be effective, must be followed by resolute action and at this crisis in world history when materialistic energy aims at overthrowing spiritual energy and moral values, action needs to develop into a world crusade for the Spiritual Humanity. — Vida Goldstein
If we are not inwardly wrought upon, and changed by the powerful operations of the Holy Spirit, and our moral actions proceed from a principle of a new nature, however we may call ourselves Christians, we shall be found naked at the great day. — George Whitefield
If one rejects laissez faire on account of mans fallibility and moral weakness, one must for the same reason also reject every kind of government action. — Ludwig von Mises
It is not what they profess but what they practice that makes them good — Greek Proverbs
Morality and ethics automatically emerge when we realize the long term consequences of our actions. — Naval Ravikant
Every moral act of love, of mercy, and of sacrifice brings to pass the end of the world where hatred, cruelty, and selfishness reign supreme. — Nikolai Berdyaev
I tend to think of action movies as exuberant morality plays in which good triumphs over evil. — Sylvester Stallone
The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life. — Albert Einstein
A moral being is one who is capable of reflecting on his past actions and their motives - of approving of some and disapproving of others. — Charles Darwin
Yes, I am my brother's keeper. I am under a moral obligation to him that is inspired, not by any maudlin sentimentality but by the higher duty I owe myself. What would you think me if I were capable of seating myself at a table and gorging myself with food and saw about me the children of my fellow beings starving to death? — Eugene V. Debs
Gays are beginning to realize what blacks learned long ago: Unless you are out here fighting for yourself then nobody else will help you. I think the gay community has a moral obligation to continue the fight. — Bayard Rustin
If a policy is wrongheaded, feckless and corrupt, I take it personally and consider it a moral obligation to sound off and not shut up until it's fixed. — David Hackworth
In my mind, there are few sins so egregious as extending life without health. This is important. It does not matter if we can extend lifespans if we cannot extend healthspans to an equal extent. And so if we’re going to do the former, we have an absolute moral obligation to do the latter. — David Sinclair
The moral and constitutional obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people. — Ron Paul
Voting is the most precious right of every citizen, and we have a moral obligation to ensure the integrity of our voting process. — Hillary Clinton
There are always lessons to be found in the darkest moments. It's a moral obligation to dig deep and find that little glimmer of hope or pearl of wisdom. — Andrea Pirlo
As believers we all have an opportunity and moral obligation to recognize our spiritual common ground; to rise above our differences; to combat prejudice and intolerance. — Queen Noor of Jordan
They’ve never had someone like me prepared to say the truth about Herbalife. I’m going to the end of the earth. I had a moral obligation. — Bill Ackman
Without commonly shared and widely entrenched moral values and obligations, neither the law, nor democratic government, nor even the market economy will function properly. — Vaclav Havel
There may be a legal obligation to obey, but there will be no moral obligation to obey. When it comes to history, it will be the people who broke the law for freedom who will be remembered and honoured. — Tony Benn
I don't hold animals superior or even equal to humans. The whole case for behaving decently to animals rests on the fact that we are the superior species. We are the species uniquely capable of imagination, rationality, and moral choice - and that is precisely why we are under an obligation to recognize and respect the rights of animals. — Brigid Brophy
I certainly believe that we have a moral obligation to care for the dogs, cats, and other nonhumans whose existence we have caused or facilitated as part of the institution of 'pet' ownership. But I maintain that we ought to abolish the institution and stop causing or facilitating the existence of more 'companion' animals. — Gary L. Francione
I will no longer allow my obligation as a veteran to remember those who died in the great wars to be co-opted by current or former politicians to justify our folly in Iraq, our morally dubious war on terror and our elimination of one's right to privacy. — Harry Leslie Smith
Americans are blessed with great plenty; we are a generous people and we have a moral obligation to assist those who are suffering from poverty, disease, war and famine. — Adam Schiff
I would have let you shoot me without further ado! But it is not possible to hang the German Reichsmarschall! I cannot permit this. ... I have no moral obligation to submit to the justice of my enemies. I have therefore chosen the manner of death of the great Hannibal. — Hermann Goring
We have a responsibility as a state to protect our most vulnerable citizens: our children, seniors, people with disabilities. That is our moral obligation. But there is an economic justification too - we all pay when the basic needs of our citizens are unmet. — John Lynch
I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and personal witness, we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest. — Martin Luther King, Jr.
He who is void of virtuous attachments in private life is, or very soon will be, void of all regard for his country. There is seldom an instance of a man guilty of betraying his country, who had not before lost the feeling of moral obligations in his private connections. — Samuel Adams
Know that joy is rarer, more difficult, and more beautiful than sadness. Once you make this all-important discovery, you must embrace joy as a moral obligation. — Andre Gide
Working for a just distribution of the fruits of the earth and human labor is not mere philanthropy. It is a moral obligation. — Pope Francis
War is a biological necessity of the first importance, a regulative element in the life of mankind which cannot be dispensed with. ... But it is not only a biological law but a moral obligation and, as such, an indispensable factor in civilization. — Friedrich Von Bernhardi
Humans have made a huge hole in nature in the last 10,000 years. [With de-extinction,] we have the ability now, and maybe the moral obligation, to repair some of the damage. — Stewart Brand
Religious liberalism affirms the moral obligation to direct one's effort toward the establishment of a just and *loving* community. — James Luther Adams
Man is without doubt the most interesting fool there is. He concedes that God made the angels immune from pain and death, and that he could have been similarly kind to man, but denies that he was under any moral obligation to do so. — Mark Twain
Happiness is a moral obligation — Dennis Prager
Im a true believer that you have a moral obligation to keep your employees honest, and that is why you have controls, so Im never tempted or put in a position where I could do something to defraud my employer. — Frank Abagnale
All moral obligation resolves itself into the obligation of conformity to the will of God. — Charles Hodge
Your love of liberty -- your respect for the laws -- your habits of industry -- and your practice of the moral and religious obligations, are the strongest claims to national and individual happiness. — George Washington
A patriot without religion in my estimation is as great a paradox as an honest Man without the fear of God. Is it possible that he whom no moral obligations bind, can have any real Good Will towards Men? — Abigail Adams
Anybody has a right to evade taxes if he can get away with it. No citizen has a moral obligation to assist in maintaining his government — J. P. Morgan
The civilized man has a moral obligation to be skeptical, to demand the credentials of all statements that claim to be facts. — Bergen Evans
You have to pick the stories that you want to be involved with and the end game is you'd like to be a part of a hit. But I think your moral obligation is to follow your own heart. — Kevin Costner
We in the Congress have a moral and constitutional obligation to protect the value of the dollar and to understand why it is so important to the economy that a central bank not be given the unbelievable power of inflating a currency at will and pretending that it knows how to fine-tune an economy through this counterfeit system of money. — Ron Paul
I believe that a religious conversion is the only way to stimulate the peoples of the industrialized nations to be willing to make sacrifices for the sake of esho funi (the oneness of self and environment). ... I wish the entire world would accept as an item of religious faith the concept of esho funi and its moral obligations. — Arnold J. Toynbee
I was raised by my parents to believe that you had a moral obligation to try and save the world. You sent money to the Red Cross, you registered people to vote, you marched in rallies, stood in vigils, picked up litter. — Anne Lamott
The obligation of human beings to support and obey human governments, while they legislate upon the principles of the moral law, is an unalterable as the moral law itself. — Charles Grandison Finney
In Conclusion
Which quotation resonated with you best? Did you enjoy our collection of moral obligation quotes? Or may be you have a slogan about moral obligation to suggest. Let us know using our contact form.
Citation
Feel free to cite and use any of the quotes in this collection of moral obligation quotations. For popular citation styles(APA, Chicago, MLA), please use this citation page.
