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About this quote

What does it mean?
Living without purpose or obligation is seen as morally repugnant.
In plain terms
A life without duties is shameful and wrong.
What can you take from it?
Purpose and duty give life moral weight.

Where it applies

  • career choices
  • personal ethics
  • community service

Putting it to work

  • volunteering
  • goal setting
  • service

Questions to consider

  • What duties define your life?
  • Is every duty meaningful?

Another view

Some duties may be imposed unjustly or hinder personal freedom.

More from Ralph Waldo Emerson

  1. There are many things of which a wise man might wish to be ignorant.

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  2. Some men's words I remember so well that I must often use them to express my thought. Yes, because I perceive that we have heard the same truth, but they have …

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  3. We cannot overstate our debt to the Past, but the moment has the supreme claim. The Past is for us; but the sole terms on which it can become ours are its subo…

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