Responsibility is not only duty. It is awareness, conscience, and the willingness to pause before we act. It reminds us that what we do matters, to one another, and to the world we share. As Charlotte Brontë wisely advised, “Look twice before you leap.”

Life will always be to a large extent what we ourselves make it. ~ Samuel Smiles

If we really want to know who is responsible for the mess we’re in, all we have to do is look in the mirror. You and I own this country, and we are responsible for what happens to it. ~ H. Ross Perot

You can’t take responsibility for everything. You can’t have that kind of control. At some point, it’s all out of our hands. ~ Faye Dunaway

The conflict is one thing I’ve been waiting for. I’m well and strong and young, young enough to go to the front. If I can’t be a soldier, I’ll help soldiers. ~ Clara Barton

The emotion, the ecstasy of love, we all want, but God spare us the responsibility. ~ Jessamyn West

The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another. ~ George Eliot

We do not do what we want, and yet we are responsible for what we are. ~ Jean-Paul Sartre

Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other’s welfare, social justice can never be attained. ~ Helen Keller

You can delegate authority, but not responsibility. ~ Stephen W. Comiskey

You can’t dodge your responsibilities by saying they don’t exist! ~ Douglas Adams

Many have forgotten this truth, but you must not forget it. You remain responsible forever for what you have tamed. ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Responsibilities gravitate to the person who can shoulder them; power flows to the person who knows how. ~ Elbert Hubbard

Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses. ~ George Washington Carver

You must create your own world. I am responsible for my world. ~ Louise Nevelson