Professional duty

“ Everything that exercises the mind fits it for its work; but professional education is indispensable to professional men. And the profession, par excellence, of every man of this generation is war. Country overrides all personal considerations. Lawyer, minister, what not, a man's first duty is the salvation of his country. ”

“ But the professional character is not the only one which a person engaged in a profession has to support. He is not always upon duty. There are services he owes, which are neither parochial, nor forensic, nor military, nor to be described by any such epithet of civil regulation, and yet are in no wise inferior to those that bear these authoritative titles ”

“ Your duty will be, whenever fitting opportunity offers, to give honest and sound advice, so far as your knowledge and observation enable you to do, to the Government as well as to your fellow-countrymen. ”

“ Let the profession of your choice be emphatically your life-work. Direct to its study the best powers of your mind. In your professional career propose to yourself an exalted aim and put in its service a persevering fidelity. ”

“ Add then to the knowledge which you already possess patient study and careful practice, and above all, see that you add to professional ability, the strictest integrity of conduct, without which your career, however brilliant for the time, cannot fail to be attended with disgrace in the end. Recollect the promise which you have just made to maintain on all occasions the purity and reputation of the profession, and never to deviate from the straight path of its honourable exercise. ”

“ It is, therefore, the indispensable duty of every Master to use his best means, that is, to take all proper methods for performance of these covenants. He must endeavour to render his Apprentice skilful and industrious, by due information and constant employment: he must enforce the duties of diligence, frugality, and honesty, by his own example, by kind and gentle usage, and by instilling into his mind the necessity and usefulness of these and all other good and virtuous habits. ”

“ The choice rests with himself; he will be what he wants to be, or what he is able to be—professor, engineer, physician, member of the bar, an administrator or a functionary. In each of his qualifications he renders an important service to the public, he exercises an honorable profession; let him be competent and expert, that concerns society. ”

“ The question really is, what is best for the people at large,—what will be most likely to secure them a high-minded, honorable Bar? It is all-important that the profession should have and deserve that character. ”

“ But these duties become diversified and specialized according as we view man either in the light of the private functions he fills in society, which are his professional duties, or in the light of the particular society of which he is a member, and which is called the State or the country, and these are the civic duties. ”

“ THE DUTIES OF MASTERS TOWARDS THEIR SERVANTS. If you would have good servants, see that you be good masters, and do your own duty, and then either your servants will do theirs, or else all their failings shall turn to your greater good. ”

“ We are aware that it must impose upon us a vast amount of additional labour; but we have felt it our bounden duty, regardless of our own convenience, to take every step to promote your welfare, and to prepare you for the practical duties of your profession. We trust you will meet us in a proper spirit, and reward us by your industry and attention. ”

“ It does not much matter in what department of things, or in what direction, people first begin to carry their convictions of duty into practice, provided they actually do begin somewhere. Duty is like the circumference of a great circle of a sphere, such as that which girds the earth, passing through both poles. ”

“ While he holds to high professional standards and gives the greater part of his attention to his profession, he also recognizes and meets the duties and obligations of citizenship and in many ways has cooperated in bringing about public welfare and improvement. ”

“ I have a right, I think, to insist that those who volunteer or are invited to give advice as to appointments shall exercise consideration and fidelity. A high sense of duty and an ambition to improve the service should characterize all public officers. ”

“ Do not imagine that I am here talking professionally, or sliding unconsciously, by the force of habit, into the tone of the pulpit. The subject of duty belongs equally to all professions and all conditions. ”

“ Your professional knowledge and skill will, on the one hand, enable you to drive quacks out of practice, whilst your knowledge of the habits of the people and your sympathy with them will secure you, on the other, a cordial reception in native homes. ”

“ Wherever mere experience and attainments are sufficient—wherever the qualities required in a professional adviser may possibly be united in a single well-selected individual (as in the case, for example, of a law officer) , one such person for general purposes, and a staff of clerks to supply knowledge of details, meet the demands of the case. ”

“ We are ready to use great opportunities only when we have trained our powers by diligent performance of humble work. Carlyle says: “Do the Duty which lies nearest thee, which thou knowest to be a Duty! ”

“ This greatly increased the value and importance of each profession, and made it exclusively responsible for the proper discharge of its own duties; and the good of society requires that the proper limits of each should be distinctly known and scrupulously regarded. ”

“ In fact, it seems as if all special professions have to some extent a narrowing influence on the mind, which in ordinary cases prevents specialists forming an unbiassed judgment on any question which extends beyond the precise limits of their actual professional practice. ”

“ This doctrine of duty is sub-divided into two parts; the common duty of every man as a MAN, or A MEMBER of A STATE, which is that part of the platform and exemplar of good, he has before reported as 'extant, and well laboured.' The other is the respective or special duty of every man in his PROFESSION, VOCATION and PLACE ”

“ This service demands a great abnegation of self, which could not be sustained save by motives superior to all human considerations. In an association, forces are combined to multiply resources; they encourage each other by example, and are enlightened by counsel; they are directed by rules which call them to duty and guarantee its observance. They receive novices whose health, character, and disposition are tested, and to whom they transmit with the knowledge of the subject the daily lessons of experience. ”

“ Your own personal qualities, your knowledge and your power of administration, and among greater things your rank and position in Society give you advantages in such a work which no other person possesses. ”

“ The present effort will be under the chief conduct of one who, from his experience and practice, has derived means and opportunities of knowing the wants, and understanding the interests, of the class to whom he has the honour to belong. And it will be the object at all times to enlist in behalf of this enterprise the talent and services of all superior minds and zealous hearts in the various kindred professions. ”

“ It is the duty of those who elect or appoint others to positions of authority (such as the positions of guardian, teacher, superintendent, etc.) to be assured beforehand of the fitness of the person chosen as regards prudence, namely, that he is devoted to the welfare of those whom he will rule, that he has acquired sufficient knowledge and experience, and that his habits are temperate, resolute, just. ”

“ Among laymen, a deep responsibility would appear to rest on those particularly, whose profession leads them most directly to consider the boundaries of the various rights and duties, which fill the space of civilized Society. ”

“ And again, The Eye of a Master will do more Work than both his Hands; and again, Want of Care does us more Damage than Want of Knowledge; and again, Not to oversee Workmen, is to leave them your Purse open. ”

“ One is that of professional men, and physicians and divines who are to be qualified for entering upon their professions immediately after leaving the college or university. The other is that of gentlemen, and those who are designed for offices of civil and active life. ”

“ The Profession to which you belong is the portal to all those places of power, honour, and emolument. In that Profession knowledge and industry are almost sure to attain distinction and pre-eminence. It may be said men have risen to eminence at the bar without the aid of lectures, or the laborious study we now propose. ”

“ Entire devotion to the interest of the client, warm zeal in the maintenance and defence of his rights, and the exertion of his utmost learning and ability,—these are the higher points, which can only satisfy the truly conscientious practitioner. ”

“ Undoubtedly there are junctures where momentary interest ceases and attention flags, and where reënforcement is needed. But what carries a person over these hard stretches is not loyalty to duty in the abstract, but interest in his occupation. Duties are 'offices'—they are the specific acts needed for the fulfilling of a function—or, in homely language, doing one's job. ”

“ He was in their |164| charge and under their control to such an extent that they were required to exercise the highest professional skill and diligence to avoid every possible danger; for the law imposes duties upon men according to the circumstances in which they are called to act. ”

“ If it be true, that a profession which has for its object the saving of human life and the prevention of human suffering; which calls forth the noblest qualities of the mind, enlarges its sympathies, and tends to clear it of prejudice and error; which brings us in direct and intimate relation with our suffering fellow-creatures, and by giving us an insight into human nature under every form and every aspect, enables us to learn wisdom from the dearly bought experience of others,—I say, if such a profession be worthy of your choice, you may be truly thankful for the selection you have made. ”

“ Of a certainty the attention of every private practitioner, as he gains practice, whilst acting as a public officer, must every hour of the day be from his public duties, and with the means of adding to his emoluments. ”

“ The qualities, however, which command public respect, and the services which have secured it to you in so high a degree, must appear a sufficient motive for offering you this slight tribute, in the eyes not only of those who know and love you in the relations of private life, but of all the many who have marked your career, either as a lawyer, alike eminent in learning and in eloquence, or as a just, impartial, clear-sighted, and yet merciful judge. ”

“ In respect to their duties, those connected, for example, with their studies, their serious employments, and their compliance with directions of any kind emanating from superior authority, of course their will must be under absolute subjection to that of those who are older and wiser than they. ”

“ And doubt not that in the active life before you, you will find abundant opportunity for such service to your fellowmen as the plan of all creation thus summons you to render. Those who have chosen their profession can easily discern the particular benefit that in its exercise they can confer on others. Make the doing of that good your main design. True, it is by your labour you must live, and it would not be right or wise to forget this aspect of the case. ”

“ There grew up a regular profession of doing things for people, which gave an outlet for a laudable desire for service, but which contributed nothing whatever to the self-reliance of the people nor to the correction of the conditions out of which the supposed need for such service grew. ”

“ To sum up all this in one formula: officers are conventionally amenable to society; society, with its officers and its rules of conduct, amenable to the purpose of society; the design of individual life, to the individuals that compose it; individuals, with their rules of conduct, amenable each to his own conscience; and all to the law of the universe, to the Eternal Right, which represents the conscience of God. ”

“ My observance has been that our plan of organization automatically raises the ethical standards of the profession. There is an instinctive desire on the part of every member of the bar to conform to the high ideals of the profession, and to the code of ethics prescribed by the organization to which he belongs. ”

“ That is the apostolic warning to the successful professional man,—the warning against the narrowing, self-contented result which sometimes taints even great attainments and professional distinction. Covet the best. Be satisfied with nothing less than the highest professional work of doctor, politician, or teacher. ”

“ But for service of this high sort, the education must begin with the beginning of the dawn of will. How often have you wished that you had servants who would believe in you, and serve you with the same truth with which you regarded them! ”

“ But the profession, notwithstanding its imperfections and short comings, is of immense importance to the public, and we invoke the assistance of all good citizens to aid in building up, improving and protecting an enlightened and reliable medical profession. ”

“ Our claim to be capable servants of our Master and reincarnations of his life is judged in our little world by the good work we do; if as surgeons or nurses, by our skill; if as storekeepers and labor employers, by the clean deals we give. ”