Source: Twenty Years at Hull-House (1910), Ch. 15
“The duty to prosecute, or not to prosecute, is a social and not a legal duty, which depends on the circumstances of each case. It cannot be said that it is a moral duty to prosecute in all cases. The matter depends on considerations, which vary according to each case. But the person who has to act is bound morally to be influenced by no indirect motive. He is morally bound to bring a fair and honest mind to the consideration and to exercise his decision from a sense of duty to himself and others.”
Jones v. Merionethshire Permanent Benefit Building Society (1891), L. R. 1 C. D. [1892], p. 183.
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Charles Bowen 20
English judge 1835–1894Related quotes
The Queen v. Instan (1893), L. R. 1 Q. B. [1893], p. 453.
Section II, p. 6
Natural Law; or The Science of Justice (1882), Chapter I. The Science of Justice.
“All laws stand on the best and broadest basis which go to enforce moral and social duties.”
Pasley v. Freeman (1789), 3 T. R. 51.
“I believe it is the duty of each of us to act as if the fate of the world depended on him.”
Thoughts on Man's Purpose in Life (1974)
Context: I believe it is the duty of each of us to act as if the fate of the world depended on him. Admittedly, on man by himself cannot do the job. However, one man can make a difference. Each of us is obligated to bring his individual and independent capacities to bear upon a wide range of human concerns. It is with this conviction that we squarely confront our duty to prosperity. We must live for the future of the human race, and not of our own comfort or success.
Fourth State of the Union Address (6 December 1880)
Source: The Moral Judgment of the Child (1932), Ch. 2 : Adult Constraint and Moral Realism <!-- p. 176 -->
Context: The notion of good, which generally speaking, appears later than the notion of pure duty, particularly in the case of the child, is perhaps the final conscious realization of something that is the primary condition of the moral life — the need for reciprocal affection. And since moral realism is, on the contrary, the result of constraint exercised by the adult on the child, it may perhaps be a secondary growth in comparison to the simple aspiration after good, while still remaining the first notion to be consciously realized when the child begins to reflect upon morality and to attempt formulation.