--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have learned that to do one's next duty…" description: "\"I have learned that to do one's next duty is to take a step toward all that is worth possessing.\" — J. G. Holland" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b06/j-g-holland-3221_duty_i-have-learned-that-to-do-one-s-next-dut_2462977.png" --- # I have learned that to do one's next duty is to take a… ![“I have learned that to do one's next duty is to take a step toward all that is worth possessing.” quote by J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b06/j-g-holland-3221_duty_i-have-learned-that-to-do-one-s-next-dut_2462977.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b06/j-g-holland-3221_duty_i-have-learned-that-to-do-one-s-next-dut_2462977.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b06/j-g-holland-3221_duty_i-have-learned-that-to-do-one-s-next-dut_2462977.png) > “I have learned that to do one's next duty is to take a step toward all that is worth possessing.” [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fulfilling each duty moves you toward what truly matters. **In simple terms:** Doing your next task brings you closer to valuable goals. Key Takeaway Take each responsibility as progress toward worth. Themes duty progress value Mood motivational serious Type inspirational practical When to use this quote - career advancement - personal development - skill building Key Concepts ethical growth goal orientation Questions to Reflect On - What does “worth possessing” mean to you? - How can you balance duty with self‑care? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on duty may neglect rest and reflection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Duty Step](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty-step-678851/) [I have learned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-have-learned/) [Learned Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learned-duty-678850/) [Next](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next/) [Possessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possessing/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) [Step Worth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/step-worth-678853/) [Steps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steps/) [Worth Possessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worth-possessing-678852/) ## Related quotes > [The only freedom worth possessing is that which gives enlargement to a people's energy, intellect, and virtues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/the-only-freedom-worth-possessing-is-that-which-gives-enlargement-to/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [We forget that every good that is worth possessing must be paid for in strokes of daily effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-forget-that-every-good-that-is-worth-possessing-must-be-paid-for/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“No one worth possessing can quite be possessed”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-teasdale/no-one-worth-possessing-can-quite-be-possessed/) [Sara Teasdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-teasdale/) > [No one worth possessing can be quite possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-teasdale/no-one-worth-possessing-can-be-quite-possessed/) [Sara Teasdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-teasdale/) > [I don't have an agent. I don't take meetings or anything like that, so I don't really know what's out there. I'm not closed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-swanberg/i-don-t-have-an-agent-i-don-t-take-meetings-or-anything-like-that-so/) [Joe Swanberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-swanberg/) > [“When you have the chance to right a wrong, in whatever small or large way, you have a duty to step up and do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-d-wolf/when-you-have-the-chance-to-right-a-wrong-in-whatever-small-or-large/) [Steven D. Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-d-wolf/) > [If Athens shall appear great to you, consider then that her glories were purchased by valiant men, and by men who learned their duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pericles/if-athens-shall-appear-great-to-you-consider-then-that-her-glories/) [Pericles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pericles/) > [“The truly educated man is the man who has learned the duty and responsibility of doing something useful, something helpful, something to make this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-thomas/the-truly-educated-man-is-the-man-who-has-learned-the-duty-and/) [Edith Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-thomas/) > [Everybody is different and I think that we live in a material world. But for me, possessing things is not that interesting. Living in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-berggruen/everybody-is-different-and-i-think-that-we-live-in-a-material-world/) [Nicolas Berggruen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-berggruen/) > [Thirty or forty proprietors, with incomes answering to between one thousand and five thousand a year, would create a much more effectual demand for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/thirty-or-forty-proprietors-with-incomes-answering-to-between-one/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [“no one worth knowing can be quite known, no one worth possessing can be quite possessed—but”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-landay/no-one-worth-knowing-can-be-quite-known-no-one-worth-possessing-can/) [William Landay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-landay/) > [Perhaps we will one day be able at least to admit of a God possessing sufficient majesty and expansiveness to transcend the limits of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-tattersall/perhaps-we-will-one-day-be-able-at-least-to-admit-of-a-god-possessing/) [Ian Tattersall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-tattersall/) > [It is evident that the right of acquiring and possessing property, and having it protected, is one of the natural, inherent, and unalienable rights…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-paterson/it-is-evident-that-the-right-of-acquiring-and-possessing-property-and/) [William Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-paterson/) > [Destitute of the fire of God, nothing else counts; possessing fire, nothing else matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-chadwick/destitute-of-the-fire-of-god-nothing-else-counts-possessing-fire/) [Samuel Chadwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-chadwick/) > [Those who know New York City primarily through tourism or mass culture may think of us natives as possessing certain shared characteristics, not all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-dee/those-who-know-new-york-city-primarily-through-tourism-or-mass/) [Jonathan Dee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-dee/) ## More by J. G. Holland > [That which grows fast, withers as rapidly. That which grows slow, endures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/that-which-grows-fast-withers-as-rapidly-that-which-grows-slow-endures/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [The faculty of self-help is that which distinguished man from animals; that it is the Godlike element, or holds within itself the Godlike element,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/the-faculty-of-self-help-is-that-which-distinguished-man-from-animals/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [Poet, forger of ideals, dreamer among the possibilities of life, prophet of the millenium, do you get impatient with the prosaic life around you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/poet-forger-of-ideals-dreamer-among-the-possibilities-of-life-prophet/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [In my judgment, a great mistake has been made by well meaning and zealous men, through treating error and infidelity with altogether too much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/in-my-judgment-a-great-mistake-has-been-made-by-well-meaning-and/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [I stand by my kind; and I thank God for the temptations that have brought me into sympathy with them, as I do for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/i-stand-by-my-kind-and-i-thank-god-for-the-temptations-that-have/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [No man ever feels the restraint of law so long as he remains within the sphere of his liberty -- a sphere, by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/no-man-ever-feels-the-restraint-of-law-so-long-as-he-remains-within/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [All who become men of power reach their estate by the same self-mastery, the same self-adjustment to circumstances, the same voluntary exercise and discipline…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/all-who-become-men-of-power-reach-their-estate-by-the-same-self/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [Preceptive wisdom that has not been vivified by life has in itself no affinity for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/preceptive-wisdom-that-has-not-been-vivified-by-life-has-in-itself-no/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [Scholarship, save by accident, is never the measure of a man's power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/scholarship-save-by-accident-is-never-the-measure-of-a-man-s-power/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [“God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest. ~ J.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/god-gives-every-bird-its-food-but-he-does-not-throw-it-into-its-nest-j/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [Humanity is constitutionally lazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/humanity-is-constitutionally-lazy/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [It is the life in literature that acts upon life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/it-is-the-life-in-literature-that-acts-upon-life/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [A fortune won in a day is lost in a day; a fortune won slowly, and slowly compacted, seems to acquire from the hand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/a-fortune-won-in-a-day-is-lost-in-a-day-a-fortune-won-slowly-and/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [I account the office of benefactor, or almoner, to which God appoints all those whom he has favored with wealth, one of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/i-account-the-office-of-benefactor-or-almoner-to-which-god-appoints/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [Who never walks save where he sees men's tracks makes no discoveries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/who-never-walks-save-where-he-sees-men-s-tracks-makes-no-discoveries/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) [Explore all 136 J. G. Holland quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) ## More Duty quotes > [I pray that wherever we are and whatever duties we have in the priesthood of God, we will be united in the cause to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/i-pray-that-wherever-we-are-and-whatever-duties-we-have-in-the/) [Henry B. Eyring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-b-eyring/) > [Few political debates have been as divisive as the European one. I fought as hard as I could on the Remain side, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-green/few-political-debates-have-been-as-divisive-as-the-european-one-i/) [Damian Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-green/) > [I'm a strange mixture of my mother's curiosity; my father, who grew up the son of the manse in a Presbyterian family, who had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/i-m-a-strange-mixture-of-my-mother-s-curiosity-my-father-who-grew-up/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [“Is that what they teach you at the convent? That the gods demand the hearts from our bodies?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lafevers/is-that-what-they-teach-you-at-the-convent-that-the-gods-demand-the/) [Robin LaFevers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lafevers/) > [The less we show our love to a woman, Or please her less, and neglect our duty, The more we trap and ruin her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pushkin/the-less-we-show-our-love-to-a-woman-or-please-her-less-and-neglect/) [Alexander Pushkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pushkin/) > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“You have a right to be sad, and a duty to move on. Only wins who wipes the tears, gather strength and move forward.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusto-branco/you-have-a-right-to-be-sad-and-a-duty-to-move-on-only-wins-who-wipes/) [Augusto Branco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusto-branco/) > [Our duty as Christians is always to keep heaven in our eye and earth under our feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-henry/our-duty-as-christians-is-always-to-keep-heaven-in-our-eye-and-earth/) [Matthew Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-henry/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Regardless of how you feel about war and peace those serving military are doing a duty for the rest of us and they're protecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-cardellini/regardless-of-how-you-feel-about-war-and-peace-those-serving-military/) [Linda Cardellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-cardellini/) > [“Duty is a done deal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/duty-is-a-done-deal/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Politics...You see, it depends on what kind of politics. What we did during my father's generation was a duty. And it was beautiful because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/politics-you-see-it-depends-on-what-kind-of-politics-what-we-did/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [I do not so much rejoice that God hath made me to be a Queen, as to be a Queen over so thankful a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-do-not-so-much-rejoice-that-god-hath-made-me-to-be-a-queen-as-to-be/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [The whole duty of man is summed up in obedience to God's will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-whole-duty-of-man-is-summed-up-in-obedience-to-god-s-will/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) [Browse all 5,178 Duty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have learned that to do one's next duty is to take a step toward all that is worth possessing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J. 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