The primal duties shine aloft, like stars;
The charities that soothe, and heal, and bless
Are scattered read more

The primal duties shine aloft, like stars;
The charities that soothe, and heal, and bless
Are scattered at the feet of Man, like flowers.

There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes read more

There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.

I think a man's duty is to find out where the truth is, or if he cannot, at least to read more

I think a man's duty is to find out where the truth is, or if he cannot, at least to take the best possible human doctrine and the hardest to disprove, and to ride on this like a raft over the waters of life

Simply duty hath no place for fear.

Simply duty hath no place for fear.

And, may I say to thee, this pride of hers,
Upon advice, hath drawn my love from her;
read more

And, may I say to thee, this pride of hers,
Upon advice, hath drawn my love from her;
And, where I thought the remnant of mine age
Should have been cherished by her childlike duty,
I now am full resolved to take a wife
And turn her out to who will take her in.

It is better to do one's own duty, however defective it may be, than to follow the duty of another, read more

It is better to do one's own duty, however defective it may be, than to follow the duty of another, however well one may perform it. He who does his duty as his own nature reveals it, never sins.

Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth,
With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks,
read more

Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth,
With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks,
Turn all her mother's pains and benefits
To laughter and contempt, that she may feel
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child.

I slept and dreamed that life was Beauty;
I woke, and found that life was Duty:--
Was read more

I slept and dreamed that life was Beauty;
I woke, and found that life was Duty:--
Was thy dream then a shadowy lie?

Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles, and kindnesses, and read more

Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles, and kindnesses, and small obligations, given habitually, are what win and preserve the heart and secure comfort