Quotes About Responsibility

Owing to our first-formed parent's injury, the maker grieved; when he bit the baleful apple and thereby collapsed in death, he himself the wood then marked out that wood's damage to repair. —Venantius Fortunatus

I Chose to be an active participant in my life rather than a spectator.

When I was a kid growing up, the message "Jesus is the Answer" was ubiquitous— painted on barns, outcroppings of rock, or as the final installment of a Burma Shave sign. The message, however, is distinctly unbiblical. The message should be "Jesus is the Assignment.

It seems to me that I have greater peace and am close to God when I am not "trying to be a contemplative," or trying to be anything special, but simply orienting my life fully and completely towards what seems to be required of a man like me at a time like this. —THOMAS MERTON

Who was it you feared? Trace it, trace the fearing to a source. Not the mid-management collaborators, remember. Not those who only obey orders; just because the responsibility is everywhere doesn't mean that it's not somewhere. Trace it further, as far as you can. Scrutinize those in power behind the fear. Visualize them. There. Are women in the picture?

If a man is capable of massacre or overseeing massacre, which is the same

When evidence reached Joffre's ears that the men were complaining, that untenable positions were being given up or that attacks were not being pressed home with their former élan, his answer was not to question Nivelle or his own methods, but to call for courts martial and firing squads.

most of the French generals were, indeed, totally indifferent to the welfare of the men, provided the attacks went in.

It has already been noted that children in dysfunctional families feel responsible for their family's problems and also for solving them. There are basically three ways in which children attempt to save their families: by being invisible, ,by being bad, or by being good.

Pero cuando usted trata de solucionarle sus problemas, él queda liberado de su propia responsabilidad por su propia vida. Entonces usted queda a cargo del bienestar de él, y cuando sus esfuerzos fallan, él la culpará a usted.

Cuando sucede algo emocionalmente doloroso y nos decimos que la culpa es nuestra, en realidad estamos diciendo que tenemos control sobre ello: si nosotros cambiamos, el dolor desaparecerá.

isn't the men who declare war who have to wage it. Only those of us who live in the field truly understand the realities of power.

An apology might help, but you can change your life without one.

Contemporary Christians have declared war on individual immorality but seem remarkably silent about the evil of systems, especially corporate greed and malfeasance. (p. 176)

Faith is always supposed to make it harder, not easier, to ignore the plight of our sisters and brothers. (p. 165)

Churches are political even when they refuse to act politically, because silence is a form of complicity and thus an endorsement of the status quo.

Preaching is, after all, an audacious and dangerous act.

How can our faith become biblically responsible, intellectually honest, emotionally satisfying, and socially significant?

What is the proper object of our worship, and what would it take to make Christianity compelling, even irresistible, again?" How can our faith become biblically responsible, intellectually honest, emotionally satisfying, and socially significant?

religion at its best should be biblically responsible, intellectually honest, emotionally satisfying, and socially significant.

we live by the ethical force of our mutual covenants, and society itself is made possible by voluntary compliance with the unenforceable.

A film's success or failure is strictly on the director's shoulders.

All powers have two sides, the power to create and the power to destroy. We must recognize them both, but invest our gifts on the side of creation.

Among our Potawatomi people, women are the Keepers of Water. We carry the sacred water to ceremonies and act on its behalf. "Women have a natural bond with water, because we are both life bearers," my sister said. "We carry our babies in internal ponds and they come forth into the world on a wave of water. It is our responsibility to safeguard the water for all our relations.