RESPONSIBILITY
Quotes
1
It is our responsibility, not ourselves, that we should take seriously.
— Peter Ustinov
2
Responsibility, the high price of self-ownership.
— Eli Schleifer
3
It is easier to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.
— Josiah Stamp
4
Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.
— Antonio de Mendoza
5
Corporation: an ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility.
— Ambrose Bierce
6
No matter how lofty you are in your department, the responsibility for what your lowliest assistant is doing is yours.
— Bessie James
7
When Robert Fosse was replaced as director-choreographer on the short-lived Broadway show The Conquering Hero, he complained, “I conceived this show. I outlined it. I cast it. I choreographed it. I drew the first sketches for the design. I directed it. And the first thing that goes wrong, they blame me!”
8
When the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, it may be that they take better care of it there.
— Cecil Selig
Sayings
1
A heavy burden does not kill on the day it is carried.
— East African saying
2
The absent are never without fault, nor those present without excuse.
Jokes
1
Somewhat skeptical of his son’s newfound determination to become Charles Atlas, the father nevertheless followed the teenager over to the weight-lifting department.
“Please, Dad,” wheedled the boy, “I promise I’ll use ‘em every day...”
“I dunno, Michael. It’s really a commitment on your part,” his father pointed out.
"Please, Dad?”
“They’re not cheap either.”
“I’ll use ‘em, Dad, I promise. You’ll see.”
Finally won over, the father paid for the equipment and headed for the door. From the corner of the store he heard his son yelp, “What! You mean I have to carry them to the car?”
2
A fellow applying for a job as a flagman with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was told the job was his if he could correctly answer a single question: As flagman, what would he do if he saw the Continental Express coming from the east at 100 mph and the Century Limited heading west at 90 mph on the same track?
The applicant pondered for a moment, then answered, “I’d fetch my brother-in-law.”
“What good would that do?” Asked the interviewer. “Has he worked on the railroad?”
“Nope — he ain’t never seen a train accident.”
3
A passerby watched the progress of two workmen down a Leningrad street. One stopped every twenty feet to dig a hole, the second filled it in as soon as he was done, and they moved on to the next site. Finally, overcome by curiosity, the observer asked what in heaven’s name they were doing. “You certainly aren’t accomplishing anything,” she pointed out.
“You don’t understand at all,” protested one worker indignantly. “We are usually a team of three: I dig the hole, Sergei plants the tree, and Vladimir packs the dirt back in. Today Sergei is home with the flu, but that doesn’t mean Vladimir and I get to stop working, does it?”
4
Two weeks after Paisley’s transfer into the promotion department, his old boss got a phone call. “You told me Paisley was a responsible worker!” yelled the furious head of promotion.
“Oh he is,” she confirmed. “In the year he worked in my department, the computer went down five times and had to be completely reprogrammed, the petty cash got misplaced six times, and I developed an ulcer. And each time, Paisley was responsible.”