C.N. Douglas, comp. Forty Thousand Quotations: Prose and Poetical. 1917.
Obligation
Obligation is the bitterest thraldom.
Most men remember obligations, but not often to be grateful for them.
An obligation is something which constrains or induces us to act.
A tender conscience is a stronger obligation than a prison.
Obligation is thraldom, and thraldom is hateful.
We are solemnly obliged to the children of those who have loved us.
Base natures ever judge a thing above them, and hate a power they are too much obliged to.
To owe an obligation to a worthy friend is a happiness, and can be no disparagement.
You find in some a sort of graceless modesty, that makes them ashamed to requite an obligation.
Trifling favors are readily acknowledged, though cheaply esteemed; but important ones are most rarely remembered.
It is no great misfortune to oblige ungrateful people, but an unsupportable one to be forced to be under an obligation to a scoundrel.
We are always much better pleased to see those whom we have obliged than those who have obliged us.
There is one thing diviner than duty, namely, the bond of obligation transmuted into liberty.
What do I owe to my times, to my country, to my neighbors, to my friends? Such are the questions which a virtuous man ought to ask himself often.
It is a secret, well known to all great men, that by conferring an obligation they do not always procure a friend, but are certain of creating many enemies.
Every man has obligations which belong to his station. Duties extend beyond obligation, and direct the affections, desires and intentions as well as the actions.
Some pretend want of power to make a competent return; and you shall find in others a kind of graceless modesty, that makes a man ashamed of requiting an obligation, because it is a confession that he has received one.
To feel oppressed by obligation is only to prove that we are incapable of a proper sentiment of gratitude. To receive favors from the unworthy is simply to admit that our selfishness is superior to our pride. Most men remember obligations, but not often to be grateful for them. The proud are made sour by the remembrance and the vain silent.