Quotes about responsibility
page 34

Philip Kan Gotanda photo

“The play is my gut's response to stories that have to do with my own bloodline. I think it is a great luxury and adventure to be able to dive into one's own history, one's own lineage, psychology and story, and illumine and at the same time fictionalize it.”

Philip Kan Gotanda (1951) American film director and playwright

On his play Yachiyo in “Family Secret Revealed on Stage / Philip Kan Gotanda tells tragic story of aunt he never knew in `Yachiyo'” https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Family-Secret-Revealed-on-Stage-Philip-Kan-3020373.php in SF Gate (1995 Nov 5)

Thinking , Time , History
Arundhati Roy photo

“Are democratic governments accountable to the people who elected them? And, critically, is the public in democratic countries responsible for the actions...?”

Arundhati Roy (1961) Indian novelist, essayist

Arundhati Roy: Tide? Or Ivory Snow? Public Power in the Age of Empire, Speech, San Francisco, California https://www.democracynow.org/2004/8/23/public_power_in_the_age_of (16 August 2004)
Speeches

People , Country
Rawi Hage photo

“…The responsibility, the burden, is much heavier for us. If we don’t exercise our collective imagination—and not just documentation —we’ll always be at a certain disadvantage. I think what literature could provide us with is showing other possibilities. What I fear most is homogeneity.”

Rawi Hage (1964) Canadian writer

On the burden of racialized writers to represent their communities in “‘What I Fear Most is Homogeneity’: An Interview with Rawi Hage” https://hazlitt.net/feature/what-i-fear-most-homogeneity-interview-rawi-hage in Hazlitt (2018 Sep 12)

Imagination , Thinking , Literature , Fear
Harry Hay photo

“We, the Androgynes of the world, have formed this responsible corporate body to demonstrate by our efforts that our physiological and psychological handicaps need be no deterrent in integrating 10% of the world's population towards the constructive social progress of mankind.”

Harry Hay (1912–2002) American gay rights activist

"We, the Androgynes of the World" (July 7th, 1950)

Radically Gay: Gay Liberation in the words of its Founder (1996)

World , Effort
Walter Reuther photo

“Free management must realize that in a free society there is no substitute for the voluntary discharge of social responsibility.”

Walter Reuther (1907–1970) Labor union leader

Address accepting the Presidency of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, Atlantic City, New Jersey, December 4, 1952, as quoted in Walter P Reuther: Selected Papers (1961), by Henry M. Christman, p. 51
1940s, Address accepting the Presidency of the CIO (1952)
I've often thought: Why is it that you can get a great nation like America marching, fighting, sacrificing, and dying in the struggle to destroy the master race theory in Berlin, and people haven't got an ounce of courage to fight against the master race theory in America? We need the same sense of dedication, the same courage, and the same determination to fight the immorality of segregation and racial bigotry in America as we did in the battlefields against Hitlersim.

Anatoly Antonov photo

“Talks between the Russian and US presidents are important not only for our countries, but for the entire world as well. Russia and the United States bear special responsibility for global security, so they need to act in a balanced way and avoid confrontation”

Anatoly Antonov (1955) Russian diplomat and statesman, Russian Ambassador to the United States (since 2017)
World , Way , Country
Milton Friedman photo

“I have been impressed time and again by the schizophrenic character of many businessmen. They are capable of being extremely far‐sighted and clear‐headed in matters that are internal to their businesses. They are incredibly short sighted and muddle‐headed in mat ters [sic!] that are outside their businesses but affect the possible survival of business in general. This short sightedness is strikingly exemplified in the calls from many businessmen for wage and price guidelines or controls or incomes policies. There is nothing that could do more in a brief period to destroy a market system and replace it by a centrally controlled system than effective governmental control of prices and wages. The short‐sightedness is also exemplified in speeches by business men on social responsibility. This may gain them kudos in the short run. But it helps to strengthen the already too prevalent view that the ptirsuit [sic!] of profits is wicked and im moral [sic!] and must be curbed and controlled by external forces. Once this view is adopted, the external forces that curb the market will not be the social consciences, however highly developed, of the pontificating executives; it will be the iron fist of Government bureaucrats. Here, as with price and wage controls, business men seem to me to reveal a suicidal impulse.”

Milton Friedman (1912–2006) American economist, statistician, and writer

“A Friedman doctrine‐- The Social Responsibility Of Business Is to Increase Its Profits” (Sept. 1970)

Time , Business , Help , Suicide
Milton Friedman photo

“The difficulty of exercising “social responsibility” illustrates, of course, the great virtue of private competitive enterprise — it forces people to be responsible for their own actions and makes it difficult for them to “exploit” other people for either selfish or unselfish purposes. They can do good—but only at their own expense.”

Milton Friedman (1912–2006) American economist, statistician, and writer

“A Friedman doctrine‐- The Social Responsibility Of Business Is to Increase Its Profits” (Sept. 1970)

Selfishness , Making love , People , Exercises
Milton Friedman photo

“The whole justification for permitting the corporate executive to be selected by the stockholders is that the executive is an agent serving the interests of his principal. This justification disappears when the corporate executive imposes taxes and spends the proceeds for “social” purposes. He becomes in effect a public employe, a civil servant, even though he remains in name an employe of private enterprise. On grounds of political principle, it is intolerable that such civil servants—insofar as their actions in the name of social responsibility are real and not just window‐dressing—should be selected as they are now. If they are to be civil servants, then they must be selected through a political process. If they are to impose taxes and make expenditures to foster “social” objectives, then political machinery must be set up to guide the assessment of taxes and to determine through a political process the objectives to be served. This is the basic reason why the doctrine of “social responsibility” involves the acceptance of the socialist view that political mechanisms, not market mechanisms, are the appropriate way to determine the allocation of scarce resources to alternative uses.”

Milton Friedman (1912–2006) American economist, statistician, and writer

“A Friedman doctrine‐- The Social Responsibility Of Business Is to Increase Its Profits” (Sept. 1970)

Way , Making love
Milton Friedman photo

“IN a free‐enterprise, private‐property system, a corporate executive is an employe of the owners of the business. He has direct responsibility to his employers. That responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance with their desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom. Of course, in some cases his employers may have a different objective. A group of persons might establish a corporation for an eleemosynary purpose—for example, a hospital or school. The manager of such a corporation will not have money profit as his objective but the rendering of certain services. In either case, the key point is that, in his capacity as a corporate executive, the manager is the agent of the individuals who own the corporation or establish the eleemosynary institution, and his primary responsibility is to them.”

Milton Friedman (1912–2006) American economist, statistician, and writer

“A Friedman doctrine‐- The Social Responsibility Of Business Is to Increase Its Profits” (Sept. 1970)

School , Money , Law , Business
Milton Friedman photo

“What does it mean to say that “business” has responsibilities? Only people can have responsibilities. A corporation is an artificial person and in this sense may have artificial responsibilities, but “business” as a whole cannot be said to have responsibilities, even in this vague sense.”

Milton Friedman (1912–2006) American economist, statistician, and writer

“A Friedman doctrine‐- The Social Responsibility Of Business Is to Increase Its Profits” (Sept. 1970)

Sense , Personality , People , Business
Milton Friedman photo

“The view has been gaining widespread acceptance that corporate officials and labor leaders have a "social responsibility"... beyond serving the interests of their stockholders or their members. This view shows a fundamental misconception of the character of a free economy. In such an economy there is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception fraud. Similarly, the "social responsibility" of labor leaders is to serve the interests of the members of their unions. It is the responsibility of the rest of us to establish a framework of law such that an individual... is, to quote Adam Smith... "led by an invisible hand... I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good."”

Milton Friedman book Capitalism and Freedom

Source: Capitalism and Freedom (1962), Ch. 8 Monopoly and the Social Responsibility of Business and Labor, p. 133

Law , Business , Fraud , Game
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi photo

“Problems or successes, they all are the results of our own actions. Karma. The philosophy of action is that no one else is the giver of peace or happiness. One's own karma, one's own actions are responsible to come to bring either happiness or success or whatever... As you sow, so shall you reap. It's a very old proverb of mankind. As you sow, so shall you reap. Sometime you may have killed that man, and then sometime now he comes to kill you... What we have done, the result of that comes to us whenever it comes, either today, tomorrow, hundred years later, hundred lives later, whatever, whatever. And so, it's our own karma.
That is why that philosophy in every religion: Killing is sin. Killing is sin in every religion. Whosoever sins, whoever is killed, it doesn't matter. It's a sin. And sin.. is a punishable offense. Because when you sin, when you've killed some man, what you are killing? You are killing the cosmic potential within the individual. Individual is cosmic. Individual potential of life is cosmic potential. Individual is divine deep inside. Transcendental experience awakens that divinity in man...When you kill a man like that you deprive him from getting to his human right.”

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1917–2008) Inventor of Transcendental Meditation, musician

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, in CNN Larry King Weekend:Interview With Maharishi Mahesh Yogi http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0205/12/lklw.00.html, (2002)

Peace , Religion , Success , Happiness
Tenzin Gyatso photo

“Humanity is entirely responsible for being at the root of the problems arising from global warming. We need to rethink the way we live on earth in order to preserve life. Global warming is out of control…. Time is not on our side, which is why I am calling on all young millennials to hasten this radical revolution. You are a part of nature and compassion decrees that you take care of it as much as you do yourselves. It is only through mutual support and co-operation that you will be able to contain disasters that are fuelled by economic and social injustice and are fuelled by greed, selfishness, and other negative states of mind…. You are responsible for the wellbeing of billions of humans and all manner of living species sharing the adventure of life on earth. It is up to you to protect natural resources and guard over air, water, oceans, forests, fauna and flora. To do so it is essential that you realize your potential for love and compassion in order to care for the earth. Learn to love it through sharing it rather than striving to possess it and thereby destroying it.”

Tenzin Gyatso (1935) spiritual leader of Tibet

A Call for Revolution (2017-2018)

Selfishness , Time , Support , Learning
Winston S. Churchill photo

“Peace with Germany and Japan on our terms will not bring much rest to you and me (if I am still responsible). As I observed last time, when the war of the giants is over, the war of the pygmies will begin.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Telegram to FDR, March 18, 1945 http://www.churchillarchiveforschools.com/themes/the-themes/anglo-american-relations/just-how-special-was-the-special-relationship-in-the-Second-World-War-Part-2-1942-44/the-sources/source-7
Post-war years (1945–1955)

War , Peace , Time

“I don’t have a job - I have a career. This may sound like semantics, (maybe it is) but to me a job is something you depend on from an employer. It’s theirs to give and theirs to take away... A career is something i have to be responsible for based on my reputation, my ability, and my preferences.”

Will Finn (1958) American animator

Why You Shouldn’t Want A Job In Animation http://willfinn.blogspot.com/2015/04/why-you-shouldnt-want-job-in-animation.html (April 1, 2015)

Dependency
Jay Nordlinger photo

“Individuals are responsible for their actions. And yet . . .No man is an island. We are all subject to influences, good and bad.”

Jay Nordlinger (1963) American journalist

"Thoughts on El Paso" https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/thoughts-on-el-paso/ (August 2019), National Review
2010s

Bad luck

“God just put a love for it inside of me, I love telling stories, drawing and painting. Animation is a fairly solitary art form. But what happens when you sit in a theater with an audience and you hear their audible responses to your work—the crying, the laughter—there is nothing like it. I just love storytelling. I am a ham actor with a pencil. I love performing on canvas or on paper or right now on a digital screen.”

John Pomeroy (1951) animator

Animation professor returns to roots as illustrator of Disney biography https://www.lipscomb.edu/now/animation-professor-returns-roots-illustrator-disney-biography (May 8, 2019)

God , Drawing , Painting , Art
David Frum photo

“As President Trump is cruel, vengeful, egoistic, ignorant, lazy, avaricious, and treacherous, so we must be kind, forgiving, responsible, informed, hardworking, generous, and patriotic.”

David Frum (1960) American political commentator

Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic (2018)

Forgiveness
Warren Farrell photo

“Whether via forced unemployment, retirement, or loss of spouse, men’s response of suicide can just be the killing of what has already been killed.”

Warren Farrell (1943) author, spokesperson, expert witness, political candidate

Source: The Boy Crisis (2018), pp. 276

Loss , Suicide , Men
Warren Farrell photo

“When boys and men are told they are needed, they respond, and become responsible.”

Warren Farrell (1943) author, spokesperson, expert witness, political candidate

Source: The Boy Crisis (2018), pp. 231

Boy , Men
Rosa Luxemburg photo

“If we assume the viewpoint claimed as his own by Lenin and we fear the influence of intellectuals in the proletarian movement, we can conceive of no greater danger to the Russian party than Lenin's plan of organization. Nothing will more surely enslave a young labor movement to an intellectual elite hungry for power than this bureaucratic straightjacket, which will immobilize the movement and turn it into an automaton manipulated by a Central Committee. On the other hand there is no more effective guarantee against opportunist intrigue and personal ambition than the independent revolutionary action of the proletariat, as a result of which the workers acquire the sense of political responsibility and self-reliance.”

Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) Polish Marxist theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary

Leninism or Marxism? (1904)

Sense , Self-confidence , Fear , Personality
John le Carré photo

“If I could generalize about my work in intelligence in those days, for better or worse, we counted ourselves an elite with a very considerable responsibility: to speak truth to power, like good journalists, that whatever we came upon, however offensive it was to those in power, we told it straight.”

John le Carré (1931) British novelist and spy

John le Carré (1931-2020) on the Iraq War, Corporate Power, the Exploitation of Africa & More, Democracy Now! https://www.democracynow.org/2020/12/25/john_le_carre_1931_2020_on (25 December 2020)

Truth , Intelligence
Guy P. Harrison photo

“Lynchings in the past have significantly shaped race relations in the present. A killing such as George Floyd’s lands on black people with a much heavier psychological weight because of lynching’s legacy. Too many white people fail to recognize this, and that needs to change. The hurt is too great, the simmering fear and anger too volatile, to bury forever. All Americans who would seek or demand a nation that is fairer to every citizen, less racist, and more peaceful have a responsibility to know this history in detail. … Confronting this ugliness would be difficult for everyone, of course, but it should be attempted. Ignorance and denial certainly have not worked, because this American wound still bleeds.”

Guy P. Harrison (1963) American skeptic author
Hurt , Peace , Anger , History
Daniel Abraham photo

“Distributed responsibility is the problem. One person gives the order, another carries it out. One can say they didn’t pull the trigger, the other that they were just doing what they were told, and everyone lets themselves off the hook.”

Daniel Abraham (1969) speculative fiction writer from the United States

Source: The Expanse, Tiamat's Wrath (2019), Chapter 21 (p. 215)

Problem , Personality
John F. Kennedy photo

“There are a number of ways by which the Federal Government can meet its responsibilities to aid economic growth. We can and must improve American education and technical training. We can and must expand civilian research and technology. One of the great bottlenecks for this country's economic growth in this decade will be the shortage of doctorates in mathematics, engineering, and physics; a serious shortage with a great demand and an under-supply of highly trained manpower. We can and must step up the development of our natural resources. But the most direct and significant kind of Federal action aiding economic growth is to make possible an increase in private consumption and investment demand--to cut the fetters which hold back private spending. In the past, this could be done in part by the increased use of credit and monetary tools, but our balance of payments situation today places limits on our use of those tools for expansion. It could also be done by increasing Federal expenditures more rapidly than necessary, but such a course would soon demoralize both the Government and our economy. If Government is to retain the confidence of the people, it must not spend more than can be justified on grounds of national need or spent with maximum efficiency.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

Source: 1962, Address and Question and Answer Period at the Economic Club of New York

Confidence , Country , Past , People
John F. Kennedy photo

“I have not asked for a single program which did not cause one or all Americans some inconvenience, or some hardship, or some sacrifice. But they have responded-and you in the Congress have responded to your duty--and I feel confident in asking today for a similar response to these new and larger demands. It is heartening to know, as I journey abroad, that our country is united in its commitment to freedom-and is ready to do its duty.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

Source: 1961, Speech to Special Joint Session of Congress

Confidence , Country , Freedom , Self-confidence
Benjamin Creme photo

“The coming stock market crash will inevitably cause much unemployment. This will lead to a complete change of government priorities: the supplying of adequate food, shelter, health-care and education will become paramount responsibilities of all forward looking nations. The waste of resources as today, in armaments and competitive practices, will cease. A rational and sustainable economic structure based on sufficiency will become the norm. Leisure will be the natural by-product of such a structure. p.156”

Benjamin Creme (1922–2016) artist, author, esotericist

Source: Maitreya's Mission Vol. II (1993), After the stock markets collapse

Food , Health , Nature , Education
Benjamin Disraeli photo

“Now, what is meant by the union between Church and State? ... I understand by it that authority is to be not merely political; that Government is to be not merely an affair of force, but is to recognize its responsibility to the Divine Power. Sir, we have discarded the divine right of Kings, and properly discarded it, because the divine right of Kings led to the abuse of supernatural power by individuals; but an intelligent age will never discard the divine right of Government. If Government is not divine, it is nothing. It is a mere affair of the police-office, of the tax-gatherer, of the guard-room.”

Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister

Speech https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1868/apr/03/adjourned-debate#column_917 in the House of Commons (3 April 1868)

Intelligence , Age , Understanding
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury photo

“I grieve that so much of the resources of this country must be spent on what is essentially an unprofitable expenditure ... but, after all, safety, safety from a foreign foe comes first, before every other earthly blessing, and we must take care, in our responsibility to the many interests that depend upon us, in our responsibility to the generations that are to succeed to us, that no neglect of ours shall suffer that safety to be compromised.”

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (1830–1903) British politician

Source: Defending increased naval expenditure; speech in Brighton (19 November 1895), quoted in The Times (20 November 1895), p. 7

Suffering , Dependency , Country
John F. Kennedy photo

“This Administration has been looking hard at exactly what civil defense can and cannot do. It cannot be obtained cheaply. It cannot give an assurance of blast protection that will be proof against surprise attack or guaranteed against obsolescence or destruction. And it cannot deter a nuclear attack. We will deter an enemy from making a nuclear attack only if our retaliatory power is so strong and so invulnerable that he knows he would be destroyed by our response. If we have that strength, civil defense is not needed to deter an attack. If we should ever lack it, civil defense would not be an adequate substitute. But this deterrent concept assumes rational calculations by rational men. And the history of this planet, and particularly the history of the 20th century, is sufficient to remind us of the possibilities of an irrational attack, a miscalculation, an accidental war, for a war of escalation in which the stakes by each side gradually increase to the point of maximum danger which cannot be either foreseen or deterred. It is on this basis that civil defense can be readily justifiable--as insurance for the civilian population in case of an enemy miscalculation. It is insurance we trust will never be needed--but insurance which we could never forgive ourselves for foregoing in the event of catastrophe. Once the validity of this concept is recognized, there is no point in delaying the initiation of a nation-wide long-range program of identifying present fallout shelter capacity and providing shelter in new and existing structures. Such a program would protect millions of people against the hazards of radioactive fallout in the event of large-scale nuclear attack. Effective performance of the entire program not only requires new legislative authority and more funds, but also sound organizational arrangements.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

Source: 1961, Speech to Special Joint Session of Congress

Forgiveness , History , Strong , War

“Who will find peace with the lands? The future of humankind lies waiting for those who will come to understand their lives and take up their responsibilities to all living things. Who will listen to the trees, the animals and birds, the voices of the places of the land? As the long forgotten peoples of the respective continents rise and begin to reclaim their ancient heritage, they will discover the meaning of the lands of their ancestors. That is when the invaders of the North American continent will finally discover that for this land, God is red.”

Vine Deloria Jr. (1933–2005) American writer

pg. ix
God Is Red (1973)

God , Peace , Tree , Waiting

“The pursuit of critical consciousness, the pursuit of social justice through a critical enlightenment, can also be settler moves to innocence - diversions, distractions, which relieve the settler of feelings of guilt or responsibility, and conceal the need to give up land or power or privilege.”

Eve Tuck Indigenous studies scholar

Source: "Decolonization is Not a Metaphor", p. 21

Feeling , Justice
Alfred Denning, Baron Denning photo

“Our laws are being disregarded right and left. The mobs are out. The police are being subjected to violence. Intimidation and violence are contrary to the law of the land. It should be condemned by every responsible citizen. We have the finest police force in the world. It is under the Queen that they defend our laws, and it is under the Queen that we should support them.”

Alfred Denning, Baron Denning (1899–1999) British judge

Speech to Justice, London (28 June 1977), quoted in The Times (29 June 1977), p. 4

World , Support , Law
Joe Biden photo

“Folks, this is a time of testing. We face an attack on our democracy and on truth. A raging virus, growing inequity, the sting of systemic racism, a climate in crisis. America′s role in the world. Any one of these would be enough to challenge us in profound ways. But the fact is, we face them all at once. Presenting this nation with one of the gravest responsibilities we′ve had. Now we′re going to be tested.Are we going to step up, all of us? It′s time for boldness, for there is so much to do. And this is certain. I promise you, we will be judged, you and I, by how we resolve these cascading crises of our era. We will rise to the occasion, is the question. Will we master this rare and difficult hour?”

Joe Biden (1942) 47th Vice President of the United States (in office from 2009 to 2017)

2021, January, Presidential Inaugural Address (2021)

Democracy , Time , Question , Truth
Adolf Hitler photo

“I alone bear the responsibility. But I am not a criminal because of that. If today I stand here as a revolutionary, it is as a revolutionary against the revolution. There is no such thing as high treason against the traitors of 1918.”

Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) Führer and Reich Chancellor of Germany, Leader of the Nazi Party

At his trial https://worldhistoryproject.org/1924/2/26/adolf-hitler-goes-on-trial-for-treason, 24 February 1924
1920s

Max Tegmark photo

“We're all born with curiosity, but at some point, school usually manages to knock that out of us. ...[M]y main responsibility as a teacher isn't to convey facts, but to rekindle that lost enthusiasm for asking questions.”

Max Tegmark book Our Mathematical Universe

Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality (2014)

School , Teachers , Question
Jon Ossoff photo

“I will work in the U.S. Senate to support a robust public health response so that we can defeat this virus, putting Georgia’s own Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the lead, trusting medical expertise, doctors, and scientists to bring the tools to bear, the technology to bear, the ingenuity to bear, and the resources to bear necessary to stop the spread of this virus to defeat it and to get our daily lives back — and to rush direct economic relief to people who need help right now.”

Jon Ossoff (1987) American politician

Quoted in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Jolt: Raphael Warnock exults, Jon Ossoff claims victory, and Republicans wonder what happened, (6 January 2021)

Support , People , Help , Health

“Norwegian women must take responsibility for the fact that Muslim men find their manner of dress provocative. And since these men believe women are responsible for rape,the women must adapt to the multicultural society around them.”

Unni Wikan (1944) Norwegian anthropologist

25 April 2007 http://islamineurope.blogspot.com/2007/04/norway-professor-unni-wikan-on-rape.html attributes it to an un-archived article from now-dead site FrontPageMag http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=20646 (excluded from archival). It was later repeated 5 July 2017 on page 20 of "Europe Arise" by Michael Walsh https://books.google.ca/books?id=2EIqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT20
Misattributed

Women , Men
Kim Jong-il photo

“Our country is suffering from the lack of food. We don't have rice for the military. Our country is in a state of anarchy because of the dysfunctional food rationing system. The administration department is responsible for this mess, as well as the Party officials. The Party's Central Committee members have failed their duty in generating a revolutionary spirit, diminishing the Party's effectiveness. We must solve the food problem according to socialist principles, and we must not rely on individuals. If we let the people solve the problem on their own, only merchants and markets will prosper. Then, selfishness will rule our society and destroy our system of true equality.”

Kim Jong-il (1941–2011) General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea

Reported speech at Kim Il Sung University in December 1996, as quoted in Exit Emperor Kim Jong-il (2012) by John H. Cha and K. J. Sohn. Domestic collections of Kim's works do not confirm the speech or the wording, but an April 1996 speech to the Central Committee began with similar observations, and a "state of anarchy" arising from privatization in former socialist countries was a theme in earlier works.
1990s

Selfishness , Country , Food , Suffering
Tom Crean (basketball coach) photo

“We have a responsibility to CARE. Thank God we’re at a place that has the tradition of this program.”

Tom Crean (basketball coach) (1966) American college basketball coach

Using the acronym CARE for "Coach Attitude and Respect Everyday", in "Crean on : rebuilding the tradition of Indiana basketball" by David Burkart in IUplanet Newsletter (7 October 2007)

God
Adin Ballou photo

“One man must not kill. If he does it is murder. Two, ten, one hundred men, acting on their own responsibility, must not kill. If they do, it is still murder. But a state or nation may kill as many as they please, and it is no murder. It is just, necessary, commendable and right. Only get people enough to agree to it, and the butchery of myriads of human beings is perfectly innocent.”

Adin Ballou (1803–1890) American minister

How Many Does It Take

People , Men
Carrie Chapman Catt photo

“This world taught woman nothing skillful and then said her work was valueless. It permitted her no opinions and said she did not know how to think. It forbade her to speak in public, and said the sex had no orators. It denied her the schools, and said the sex had no genius. It robbed her of every vestige of responsibility & then called her weak.”

Carrie Chapman Catt (1859–1947) American social reformer, suffragist (1859-1947)

From a 1902 speech as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association quoted in "The Wings of Dawn" by Louise Scarmato (2013)

World , Sex , Thinking , School
J. Howard Moore photo

“A carnivorous animal is not an ideal animal, and never can be. The life of a carnivorous animal is a perpetual onslaught. Every meal is a murder. Eating is not the harmless activity it is to one who sits down to fruit and grains. The carnivore must kill somebody, or have somebody else do it for him, in order to eat. It cannot be otherwise. And an animal whose life is one unbroken succession of such necessities, whose stomach is the grave of hundreds and thousands, and even of tens of thousands, of his fellow-beings, may be meritorious in other respects — may preach the Golden Rule, decry war, give money to the missionary, and rail at the rich — but so long as he continues to fill himself every few hours with the blood and vitals of others, he is not only not an ideal animal, but has in reality no just claims on life. Flesh is a painful form of nutrition for any organism, but it is especially so for man, because it is unnecessary, and because man makes so many pretensions and occupies a position in the world of such exceptional responsibility.”

J. Howard Moore (1862–1916)

Source: The New Ethics (1907), The Food of the Future, pp. 131–132

Money , Pain , Success , War
Tracy Chapman photo

“I think it's important, if you are an artist, to use your music to stand up for what you believe in…That's what everyone should do with their lives…stand up for what they believe in, or try to do some good in the world. I don't think artists have a greater responsibility than anyone else.”

Tracy Chapman (1964) American singer-songwriter

On how artist expression can be a form of political activism in “A militant mellows” https://www.theguardian.com/music/2002/sep/28/artsfeatures.popandrock in The Guardian (27 Sep 2002)

World , Thinking , Music
Jair Bolsonaro photo

“In the Pfizer contract it's very clear: 'we're not responsible for any side effects.'”

Jair Bolsonaro (1955) Brazilian president elect

If you turn into a crocodile, it's your problem.
2020

Pablo Galimberti photo

“If everyone assumes their responsibilities, and we live Christian values coherently day by day.”

Pablo Galimberti (1941) Roman Catholic bishop of Salto

The Blessed Mother’s “doings” at Salto https://www.schoenstatt.org/en/reaching-out/2016/03/the-blessed-mothers-doings-at-salto/ (2016)

Stephen Chmilar photo

“It is the responsibility of all to stand up against any systemic discrimination by the government in a democratic society; this is a principle which Ukrainians certainly understand intimately.”

Stephen Chmilar (1945)

Bishop urges Catholic groups to renege after they signed Trudeau’s pro-abortion pledge https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/bishop-urges-catholic-groups-to-renege-after-they-signed-trudeaus-pro-abort (May 3, 2018)

Understanding

“All of us are responsible for the communication we make, for the information we share, for the control that we can exert over fake news by exposing it. All of us are to be witnesses of the truth: to go, to see and to share.”

Felix Femi Ajakaye (1962) Nigerian catholic priest

National Unrest: Address the nation now – Catholic Bishop tells Buhari https://dailypost.ng/2021/05/16/national-unrest-address-the-nation-now-catholic-bishop-tells-buhari/ (May 16, 2021)

Truth , Making love , Communication
L. Lin Wood photo

“I know that God only works for good in the lives of His children. Our responsibility is to search for God's will, find it, and do it to the best of our imperfect ability. The outcome is already decided. And it is always for good. As a matter of faith, I never question outcomes.”

L. Lin Wood (1952) American lawyer

20 May 2021 https://twitter.com/patriottakes/status/1395227279748255745/photo/1

Search , God , Faith , Question
Mary Ruwart photo

“We defer to authority figures because they are supposed to know more than we do. If a mistake is made, it's easy to lay the blame at their feet. Ultimately, however, we are responsible for choosing the authority figure we defer to. Choosing to defer to one who urges aggression against others still puts the responsibility on us.””

Mary Ruwart (1949) American scientist and libertarian activist

Source: Healing Our World: In An Age of Aggression, (2003), p. 10

Báb photo

“How often a person, having inclined his ears to the holy verses, would bow down in humility and would embrace the Truth, while his leader would not do so. Thus every individual must bear his own responsibility, rather than someone else bearing it for him.”

Báb book Persian Bayán

IV, 18
Persian Bayán

Truth , Personality
Richard Crossman photo

“The main task of socialism to-day is to prevent the concentration of power in the hands of either industrial management or the state bureaucracy—in brief, to distribute responsibility and so to enlarge freedom of choice.”

Richard Crossman (1907–1974) British Member of Parliament

‘Introduction’, New Fabian Essays (1952), p. 27

Freedom
William G. Boykin photo

“Most of us have managed to hang on to a few good friends. They may not be battle buddies, but they've found a way to stay in our lives, and we're in theirs for the long haul. When that's the case, we have certain responsibilities to them. Sometimes we have the pleasure of applauding their accomplishments or sharing happy occasions with them. But, when necessary, we also owe it to them to be truth-tellers. And we have to hope they'll be equally straightforward with us.”

William G. Boykin (1948) Recipient of the Purple Heart medal

Source: Man to Man: Rediscovering Masculinity in a Challenging World (2020), p. 119

Pleasure , Truth , Way , Happiness

“Each one of us has to take responsibility for reality, and present it so that kids will grow up familiar with that and say, OK. I've seen that before. I'm not afraid of it.”

Thuy Trang (1973–2001) Vietnamese actress (1973-2001)
Reality
Charlie Munger photo

“You can't give the average Wall Street CEO really lenient standards of accounting and expect the figures to be good. The accountant is like the referee in soccer. The accountant has to be the adult that prevents the mayhem. Accountants don't want to be the adults because it causes liability, it causes responsibility, it causes difficulty ... they failed us terribly.”

Charlie Munger (1924) American business magnate, lawyer, investor, and philanthropist

[A Conversation with Charlie Munger, Ross School of Business, YouTube, March 22, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pph3Bg8Pihg] (quote at 23:30 of 1:59:58)

Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg photo

“When assessing the responsibility for this war—we have to confess honestly that we bear a share of the guilt. If I said this thought oppresses me, I would say too little—this thought never leaves me. I live in it.”

Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg (1856–1921) German chancellor during World War I

Remarks to Theodor Wolff (5 February 1915), quoted in Konrad H. Jarauschl, ‘The Illusion of Limited War: Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg's Calculated Risk, July 1914’, Central European History, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Mar., 1969), p. 76

War
James Mattis photo

“We do not need to militarize our response to protests. We need to unite around a common purpose. And it starts by guaranteeing that all of us are equal before the law.”

James Mattis (1950) 26th and current United States Secretary of Defense; United States Marine Corps general

In Union There Is Strength (2020)

Law
James Mattis photo

“You don't always control your circumstances, but you can always control your response.”

James Mattis (1950) 26th and current United States Secretary of Defense; United States Marine Corps general

Source: Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead (2019), p. 6

Michael Parenti photo

“There is nothing sacred about the existing system. All economic and political institutions are contrivances that should serve the interests of the people. When they fail to do so, they should be replaced by something more responsive, more just, and more democratic. Marx said this, and so did Jefferson. It is a revolutionary doctrine, and very much an American one.”

Michael Parenti (1933) American academic

Source: Democracy for the Few (2010 [1974]), sixth edition, Chapter 17, p. 335

People

“The support of the communities implies concrete assistance to young couples because it can offer them knowledge and an important wealth of experience, while encouraging them, above all, to open themselves to the presence of God in their lives, a presence that will help them to support their love in a long, faithful, and fruitful marriage. When the parish communities take this responsibility seriously the ministry of marriage preparation has the potential to be a life-giving joy for communities and families. Their love is contagious and does everyone good.”

Peter Doyle (bishop) (1944) Catholic bishop

Marriage Preparation in the light of “Amoris Laetitia”: The experience of the Office for Life, Family, and Marriage of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales http://www.laityfamilylife.va/content/laityfamilylife/en/news/2018/la-preparazione-al-matrimonio-alla-luce-di-amoris-laetitia--lesp.html (23 August 2018)

Family , God , Faith , Marriage
Anthony Robbins photo

“Whatever happens, take responsibility.”

Anthony Robbins (1960) Author, actor, professional speaker
Attitude
Henri-Frédéric Amiel photo

“Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you.”

Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) Swiss philosopher and poet
Light
Napoleon Hill photo

“No alibi will save you from accepting the responsibility.”

Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American author

“I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime.”

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1926–2004) American psychiatrist
Chulpan Khamatova photo

“For me, the most important thing in education is to instill a sense of responsibility. Because when you are responsible for your words, it will be very easy for you to live in this life later. If you live all the time with the claim that everyone owes you, it is very stupid.”

Chulpan Khamatova (1975) Russian actress

As quoted in Чулпан Хаматова и ее 17-летняя дочь дали первое совместное интервью (18 October 2019) https://tvrain.ru/teleshow/sobchak_zhivem/chulpan_khamatova_ya_by_vybrala_severnuyu_koreyu_a_ne_revolyutsiyu-286479/

Stupidity , Education , Time , Sense
Michael J. Sandel photo

“Luck egalitarianism defends inequalities that arise from effort and choice. This highlights a point of convergence with free-market liberalism. Both emphasize personal responsibility and make the community’s obligation to help the needy conditional on showing that their neediness is no fault of their own.”

Michael J. Sandel (1953) American political philosopher

Chap. 5. Success Ethics
The Tyranny of Merits (2020)

Personality , Communication , Help , Effort
Frithjof Schuon photo

“Every virtue is a participation in the Beauty of the One and a response to His Love.”

Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998) Swiss philosopher

[2012, Echoes of Perennial Wisdom, World Wisdom, 20, 978-1-93659700-0]
Spiritual path, Virtue

Love , Beauty
Paulo Coelho photo

“It’s always easy to blame others. You can spend your entire life blaming the world, but your successes or failures are entirely your own responsibility. You can try to stop time, but it’s a complete waste of energy.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

World , Failure , Time , Success
Donald J. Trump photo

“Look, I take responsibility always for everything because it's ultimately my job, too. I have to get everybody in line.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

As quoted by * 2020-07-19
Trump pushes back against critics on coronavirus, addresses whether he will accept election results in exclusive interview
Ronn Blitzer
Fox News
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-pushes-back-against-critics-on-coronavirus-addresses-whether-he-will-accept-election-results-in-exclusive-interview
2020, July 2020

Donald J. Trump photo

“Leadership: whatever happens, you're responsible. If it doesn't happen, you're responsible.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

Tweet (8 November 2013) https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/398887965302091776
2013

Prevale photo

“True love consists in sharing responsibilities, listening, sincerity, respect, sex, care, empathy, patience, planning and uniqueness.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: ​Il vero amore consiste nella condivisione delle responsabilità, dell'ascolto, della sincerità, del rispetto, del sesso, della cura, dell'empatia, della pazienza, della progettualità e dell'unicità.
Source: prevale.net

Sex , Sincerity , Love , Patience
Prevale photo

“The choice: the most responsible and complicated action in the world.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) La scelta: l'azione più responsabile e complicata del mondo.
Source: prevale.net

World
Robert Lewandowski photo

“For sure, as the captain, it’s something bigger. The expectation is higher. Playing for the national team is a responsibility.”

Robert Lewandowski (1988) Polish association football player
Roh Moo-hyun photo

“As a result of the great choice of the people, I have been given the honoured responsibility of presiding over the new administration of the republic. I am very grateful to each and every one of you; with your support, I promise to follow this great call to duty.”

Roh Moo-hyun (1946–2009) 9th President of the Republic of Korea

Excerpts from inaugural address (25 February 2003)

People , Support
Gabriel Byrne photo

“We now prefer the fantasy…We find comfort in the lies. I was the victim of that for so long. I imbibed everything. It led to a place where I became extremely unhappy. And now I question everything. I believe it’s a responsibility to do it.”

Gabriel Byrne (1950) Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator

On how people forgo truthful living for lies in “Gabriel Byrne: 'There’s a shame about men speaking out. A sense that if you were abused, it was your fault'” https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/nov/08/gabriel-byrne-its-an-obscenity-to-tell-innocent-children-theyre-going-to-hell in The Guardian (2020 Nov 8)

Question
Nithyananda photo

“A responsible leader is a person who is able to respond spontaneously to situations.”

Nithyananda (1978) Indian guru

Living Enlightenment

Personality
Opal Tometi photo

“I'm extremely gratified that people have heard and are taking ownership of Black Lives Matter. People now know that in their respective industries and countries, they have the responsibility to ensure that Black people are respected, protected and affirmed.”

Opal Tometi (1984) Nigerian–American writer, strategist and community organizer

Source: Black Lives Matter Was Always Designed to Be a Global Movement, Vice] (7 July 2020)

Country , People
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya photo

“Democracy is about participation in the first place. And with participation comes responsibility for decisions and actions.”

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (1982) Belarusian politician and educator

"Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Leader Of The Democracy Movement In Belarus" in Faces of Democracy https://www.faces-of-democracy.org/sviatlana-tsikhanouskaya/ (6 July 2021)

Democracy , Decision
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya photo

“I think that people have put too much responsibility on me. People are forgetting that a year ago I was just a mother, not at all involved in politics. I have had to study a lot and I’m trying to do what I can, where I am … But the responsibility isn’t just on me, it’s on all Belarusians.”

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (1982) Belarusian politician and educator

"Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: ‘Belarusians weren’t ready for this level of cruelty’" in The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/09/sviatlana-tsikhanouskaya-belarusians-not-ready-cruelty-lukashenko-belarus (9 August 2021)

Study , Forgetting , People , Thinking

“The essence of Medicine is story-- finding the right story, understanding the true story, being unsatisfied with a story that does not make sense. Healthcare, on the other hand, deconstructs story into thousands of tiny pieces-- pages of boxes and check marks for which no one is responsible.”

Victoria Sweet Physician

Slow Medicine: The Way to Healing (2017)

Understanding , Box , Sense
Aleksander Kwaśniewski photo

“We have become aware of the responsibility for our attitude towards the dark pages in our history. We have understood that bad service is done to the nation by those who are impelling to renounce that past. Such attitude leads to a moral self-destruction.”

Aleksander Kwaśniewski (1954) Polish politician, president of Poland

"Speech at the Jedwabne Ceremony" http://www.dialog.org/hist/kwasniewski.html (10 July 2001)

History , Past

“Many of the faithful believe Holy Communion leads to personal sanctification and transformation of attitudes and engenders responsiveness to the needs of others... for many others there is a disparity between what they believe and how they live.”

Gabriel Malzaire (1957) catholic bishop

Bishops urge concrete action to increase respect, understanding of Eucharist: seminary formation, penance, reverent posture https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/5097/bishops-urge-concrete-action-to-increase-respect-understanding-of-eucharist-seminary-formation-penance-reverent-posture (9 October 2005)

Personality , Faith
Mateusz Morawiecki photo

“We cannot accept turning perpetrators and those responsible for committing cruel crimes against both innocent people and invaded countries into victims. Together - in the name of those who perished and for the good of our common future - we must preserve the truth.”

Mateusz Morawiecki (1968) Prime Minister of Poland

"Statement by the Prime minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki" https://www.gov.pl/web/diplomacy/statement-by-the-prime-minister-of-poland-mateusz-morawiecki (29 December 2019)

People , Truth , Country , Future
Soong Mei-ling photo

“One of our national characteristics is not to do things without careful deliberation. Those who are privileged to direct the aspirations of a quarter of the world’s population have a wonderful opportunity but a fearful responsibility.”

Soong Mei-ling (1897–2003) Chiang Kai-shek's wife, First Lady of the Republic of China

China Emergent (May 1942)

World , Fear
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo

“You must be ready to take all your responsibilities upon your head, instead of relying upon someone else to do all the dirty work for you.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author
Edmund Dene Morel photo

“I was filled with determination, to do my best to expose and destroy what i then knew to be a legalized infamy, responsible for a vast destruction of human life.”

Edmund Dene Morel (1873–1924) British politician (1873-1924)

King Leopold's ghost. https://vimeo.com/ondemand/kingleopoldsghost History of the CRA, 1904, FF.

Life
Newton Lee photo

“If you are too careful about taking risks, you end up not doing anything. If you don’t want to take any responsibilities, again you end up doing nothing in life. Transhumanists are the ones who actually want to take risks and want to take responsibilities. And that’s what we are doing!”

Newton Lee American computer scientist

Collective Superintelligence Summit (June 4, 2021)

Life

“I am liberal in that I believe we have a responsibility to care for the elderly, the poor, the handicapped and the mentally retarded. I support programs aiding these citizens. I am conservative in that when it comes to giving away taxpayers money on such things as the Heber Creeper.”

Beverly White (1928–2021) American politician

As quoted in The Salt Lake Tribune https://archive.ph/jzPX2 (November 1, 1990)

Money , Support

“My new responsibility is higher, it requires renewed vigour, commitment and strength, the prayers of my brethren are needed. I need your prayers to succeed, I need your prayers to take catholic church and the society to the promised land.”

Matthew Ishaya Audu (1959) Nigerian catholic priest

Cleric urges Nigerians to pray for national unity, development https://newsdiaryonline.com/cleric-urges-nigerians-to-pray-for-national-unity-development/ (May 10, 2021)

Angela Davis photo

“Why can’t it be simple? If we were only to focus on gender, it would make things so much easier. But of course, it has been this yearning toward simplicity that has racialized feminism as white, that has been responsible for its false universals.”

Angela Davis (1944) American political activist, scholar, and author

Difficult Dialogues (2009)

Falseness , Universe
Shobha Rao photo

“I think the only responsibility that writers have is to our own truth. If that happens to merge with contemporary issues, then yes, write that truth. But what we are haunted by is not a thing we choose. And that choice is most certainly not made by the latest headlines.”

Shobha Rao

On whether writers have the responsibility to write about contemporary issues in “‘I can’t think of a happier story’: Shobha Rao talks GIRLS BURN BRIGHTER” https://www.booklistreader.com/2018/03/06/books-and-authors/i-cant-think-of-a-happier-story-shobha-rao-talks-girls-burn-brighter/ in Booklist Reader (2018 Mar 6)

Truth , Thinking
Tip O'Neill photo

“Today I promise you that I will speak gavel fairly, firmly, and with responsibility. Always respecting the rules and the presidents of this house.”

Tip O'Neill (1912–1994) American politician
Housing

“The world is a complex place. In our struggles to simplify and understand, we often identify some bugbear and then make it responsible for all evils.”

Stephen Jay Gould book An Urchin in the Storm

Source: An Urchin in the Storm (1987) "Utopia, Limited", p. 218

Understanding , World , Evil

“To be politically motivate and politically sensitive to what is happening around us is part of our responsibility as Church. We must educate people on this – this is an important area but since it is delicate area, we must be prudent in going about it.”

Antony Selvanayagam (1935) Catholic bishop

Source: Bishop Selvanayagam tells his story https://cj.my/74779/bishop-selvanayagam-tells-his-story/ (14 August 2012)

People , Motivation , Education , Parting

“For an average man, the world is weird because if he's not bored with it, he's at odds with it. For a warrior, the world is weird because it is stupendous, awesome, mysterious, unfathomable. A warrior must assume responsibility for being here, in this marvelous world, in this marvelous time.”

Carlos Castaneda book The Wheel of Time

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from "Journey to Ixtlan" (Chapter 8)

Time , World

“Whenever a warrior decides to do something he must go all the way, but he must take responsibility for what he does. No matter what he does, he must know first why he is doing it, and then he must proceed with his actions without having doubts or remorse about them.”

Carlos Castaneda book The Wheel of Time

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from "Journey to Ixtlan" (Chapter 8)

Way

“A warrior takes responsibility for his acts, for the most trivial of his acts. An average man acts out his thoughts, and never takes responsibility for what he does.”

Carlos Castaneda book The Wheel of Time

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from A Separate Reality (Chapter 6)