“There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy.”
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer
An Apology for Idlers.
Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers (1881)
“There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy.”
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer
An Apology for Idlers.
Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers (1881)
Yevgeniy Chazov (1929) Russian physician
Tragedy and Triumph of Reason (1985)
Context: Nuclear war, unless it is prevented, would lead to the extinction of life on Earth and possibly in the Universe. Can we take such a risk?
In our medical practice when we deal with a critical patient in order to save him, we mobilize all our energies and knowledge, sacrifice part of our hearts and enlist the cooperation of our most experienced colleagues. Today we face a seriously ill humanity, torn apart by distrust and fear of nuclear war. To save it we must arouse the conscience of the world's peoples, cultivate hatred for nuclear weapons, repudiate egoism and chauvinism, and create favorable atmosphere of trust. In the nuclear age we are all interdependent. The Earth is our only common home which we cannot abandon. The new suicidal situation calls for the new thinking. We must convince those who take political decisions.
Our professional duty is to protect life on Earth. True to the Hippocratic Oath, physicians will dedicate their knowledge, their hearts and their lives to the happiness of their patients and the well-being of the peoples of the world.
“Human happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.”
George Washington (1732–1799) first President of the United States
Henry Giles (1809–1882) Irish minister
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 297.