“The continual endeavor of man should be to lessen the sum of suffering and cruelty: that is the first duty of humanity.”
Jean-Christophe (1904 - 1912), Journey's End: The Burning Bush (1911)
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Romain Rolland 43
French author 1866–1944Related quotes

Pursuit of Progress (Heinemann, 1953), p. 161
1950s

In an interview shortly before he was killed, responding to a question by David Frost about how his obituary should read.
Context: Something about the fact that I made some contribution to either my country, or those who were less well off. I think back to what Camus wrote about the fact that perhaps this world is a world in which children suffer, but we can lessen the number of suffering children, and if you do not do this, then who will do this? I'd like to feel that I'd done something to lessen that suffering.

Part III, Chapter 18, A Month with Gokhale II
1920s, An Autobiography (1927)

“The first duty of a man is to think for himself”

Edward Pease, diary entry (1846-08-16)

“If obedience invariably leads to cruelty, disobedience is our moral duty.”
"Keep the Faith" (2006)