There is no duty we so much underrated as the duty of being happy.
What is possible is our highest duty.
When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.
When one has come to accept a certain course as duty he has a pleasant sense of relief and of lifted responsibility, even if the course involves pain and renunciation. It is like obedience to some external authority; any clear way, though it lead to death, is mentally preferable to the tangle of uncertainty.
When we can say no not only to things that are wrong and sinful, but also to things pleasant, profitable, and good which would hinder and clog our grand duties and our chief work, we shall understand more fully what life is worth, and how to make the most of it.
Where there are no rights, there are no duties.
Without duty, life is sort of boneless; it cannot hold itself together.
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