Mark Riebling Quote

Though the words "personal" and "personality" date to the 1380s, "responsibility" emerged only in the 1640s, as England began its great democratic ferment. This linguistic lag marked an arrested moral development. Our civilization developed personality early and responsibility late. Only the duties of democratic governance required a word to express the abstract principle, "a state of being responsible."


Personal Responsibility: How the Framers coined a phrase as they created a nation (2010)


Though the words personal and personality date to the 1380s, responsibility emerged only in the 1640s, as England began its great democratic ferment. ...

Though the words personal and personality date to the 1380s, responsibility emerged only in the 1640s, as England began its great democratic ferment. ...

Though the words personal and personality date to the 1380s, responsibility emerged only in the 1640s, as England began its great democratic ferment. ...

Though the words personal and personality date to the 1380s, responsibility emerged only in the 1640s, as England began its great democratic ferment. ...