“I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.”

—  John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

I Believe

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John D. Rockefeller, Jr. photo
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. 15
American financier and philanthropist 1874–1960

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John D. Rockefeller photo

“I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.

I believe that the law was made for man and not man for the law; that government is the servant of the people and not their master.

I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.

I believe that thrift is essential to well-ordered living and that economy is a prime requisite of a sound financial structure, whether in government, business or personal affairs.

I believe that truth and justice are fundamental to an enduring social order.

I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a man's word should be as good as his bond, that character—not wealth or power or position—is of supreme worth.

I believe that the rendering of useful service is the common duty of mankind and that only in the purifying fire of sacrifice is the dross of selfishness consumed and the greatness of the human soul set free.

I believe in an all-wise and all-loving God, named by whatever name, and that the individual's highest fulfillment, greatest happiness and widest usefulness are to be found in living in harmony with His will.

I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world; that it alone can overcome hate; that right can and will triumph over might.”

John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937) American business magnate and philanthropist
Mark Twain photo

“Don't believe the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

Misattributed
Source: Often attributed to Twain, but sourced to Robert J. Burdette, Quote Investigator http://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/06/06/world-owes/

Melvyn Bragg photo

“I OWE Christianity a debt, and so, I believe, does the world we have lived in for the last 2000 years.”

Melvyn Bragg (1939) British broadcaster and author
William Graham Sumner photo

“The man who started with the notion that the world owed him a living would once more find, as he does now, that the world pays him its debt in the state prison.”

William Graham Sumner (1840–1910) American academic

“The Challenge of Facts”, 1914 http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1914sumner.html.

Oliver Goldsmith photo

“To what fortuitous occurrence do we not owe every pleasure and convenience of our lives.”

Oliver Goldsmith book The Vicar of Wakefield

Source: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Ch. 21.

Mark Twain photo

“Don't go around thinking the world owes you a living. It was here first.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

Misattributed
Variant: Don’t believe the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
Source: Often attributed to Twain, but sourced to Robert J. Burdette, Quote Investigator http://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/06/06/world-owes/

Barack Obama photo

“If the world acts together, we can make sure that all of our children enjoy lives of opportunity and dignity.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2014, Address to the United Nations (September 2014)

Alexander Graham Bell photo

“A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with — a man is what he makes of himself.”

Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922) scientist and inventor known for his work on the telephone

Bell Telephone Talk (1901)

Terence V. Powderly photo

“If you owe a man a dollar, pay it; if you owe him a grudge, forget it, and always be kind.”

Terence V. Powderly (1849–1924) American mayor

[Powderly, Terence, 'The Path I Trod: The Autobiography of Terence V. Powderly, 1940, Columbia University Press, 9781163178164, https://archive.org/stream/pathitrodautobio00powdrich, 34]

Manal al-Sharif photo

“Freedom for me is to live with dignity, and if my dignity and freedom is controlled by a man, I will never be free.”

Manal al-Sharif (1979) Saudi Arabian activist

About male guardianship on women in Saudi Arabia. As quoted in Saudi women 'still enslaved', says activist as driving ban ends http://news.trust.org/item/20180622172634-f882k/ (22 June 2018) by Heba Kanso, '.
Context: Imagine your son becomes your guardian, no matter my capabilities as a woman, I am still enslaved to somebody else. Freedom for me is to live with dignity, and if my dignity and freedom is controlled by a man, I will never be free.

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