--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He feared that principle, active…" description: "\"“He feared that principle, active principle, had been wanting; that they had never been properly taught to govern their inclinations and tempers by tha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/693/jane-austen-39_sense-of-duty_he-feared-that-principle-active-principl_2813109.jpg" --- # He feared that principle, active principle, had been… ![“He feared that principle, active principle, had been wanting; that they had never been properly taught to govern their inclinations and tempers by that sense of duty which can alone suffice. They had been instructed theoretically in their religion, but never required to bring it into daily practice.” quote by Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/693/jane-austen-39_sense-of-duty_he-feared-that-principle-active-principl_2813109.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/693/jane-austen-39_sense-of-duty_he-feared-that-principle-active-principl_2813109.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/693/jane-austen-39_sense-of-duty_he-feared-that-principle-active-principl_2813109.jpg) > ““He feared that principle, active principle, had been wanting; that they had never been properly taught to govern their inclinations and tempers by that sense of duty which can alone suffice. They had been instructed theoretically in their religion, but never required to bring it into daily practice.”” [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often learn moral duties theoretically but fail to apply them in everyday life, leading to uncontrolled impulses. **In simple terms:** Theory vs. practice in morality. Key Takeaway Bridge belief and action. Themes morality self‑control education Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - family decisions - personal habits - social interactions Key Concepts duty practical ethics Questions to Reflect On - How can we teach practical virtue? - What habits reinforce duty? A Different Perspective Applying duty can be socially costly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Active Principle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/active-principle-3533196/) [Feared Principle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feared-principle-676348/) [Principle Wanting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principle-wanting-676349/) [Religion Required](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion-required-2095378/) [Sense Of Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-of-duty/) [Taught Govern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taught-govern-2459607/) ## Related quotes > [“feel that it had not been the most direful mistake in his plan of education. Something must have been wanting within, or time would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/feel-that-it-had-not-been-the-most-direful-mistake-in-his-plan-of/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“that they had never been properly taught to govern their inclinations and tempers, by that sense of duty which can alone suffice. They had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/that-they-had-never-been-properly-taught-to-govern-their-inclinations/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [As a motive for terror, religion has more often than not required a good deal of lubrication by lucre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/as-a-motive-for-terror-religion-has-more-often-than-not-required-a/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [Perseverance is an active principle, and cannot continue to operate but under the influence of desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/perseverance-is-an-active-principle-and-cannot-continue-to-operate/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [“There is one difference between mind power and prayer, however, in that subscription to a specific religion, if at all, is not required.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-richards/there-is-one-difference-between-mind-power-and-prayer-however-in-that/) [Stephen Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-richards/) > [It is necessary for us to understand that the only Active Principle is Spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-holmes/it-is-necessary-for-us-to-understand-that-the-only-active-principle/) [Ernest Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-holmes/) > [“What then? Are we only to buy the books that we read? The question has merely to be thus bluntly put, and it answers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/what-then-are-we-only-to-buy-the-books-that-we-read-the-question-has/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [On the evidence we have, the meritocratic ideal ends up being just as undemocratic as the old emphasis on inheritance and tradition, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/on-the-evidence-we-have-the-meritocratic-ideal-ends-up-being-just-as/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [I regret if my actions hurt anyone or harmed the United States. It was never my intent to hurt anyone. 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Go to church every time the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wilkerson/go-ahead-read-your-bible-through-in-a-year-from-a-sense-of-duty-pray/) [David Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wilkerson/) > [Courage that grows from constitution often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it; courage which arises from a sense of duty acts;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/courage-that-grows-from-constitution-often-forsakes-a-man-when-he-has/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [The enemy? His sense of duty was no less than yours, I deem. You wonder what his name is, where he came from. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/the-enemy-his-sense-of-duty-was-no-less-than-yours-i-deem-you-wonder/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) > [He gives only the worthless gold who gives from a sense of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/he-gives-only-the-worthless-gold-who-gives-from-a-sense-of-duty/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [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/) ## More by Jane Austen > [Let us have the luxury of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/let-us-have-the-luxury-of-silence/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“How earnestly did she then wish that her former opinions had been more reasonable, more moderate!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/how-earnestly-did-she-then-wish-that-her-former-opinions-had-been/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“it is very well worth-while to be tormented for two or three years of one's life, for the sake of being able to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-is-very-well-worth-while-to-be-tormented-for-two-or-three-years-of/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [ “Everybody is taken in at some period or another. \[...\] In marriage especially. \[...\] There is not one in a hundred of either sex,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/everybody-is-taken-in-at-some-period-or-another-in-marriage/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [She knew that what Marianne and her mother conjectured one moment, they believed the next: that with them, to wish was to hope, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/she-knew-that-what-marianne-and-her-mother-conjectured-one-moment/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“…for I look upon the Frasers to be about as unhappy as most other married people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/for-i-look-upon-the-frasers-to-be-about-as-unhappy-as-most-other/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“It raises my spleen more than any thing, to have the pretence of being asked, of being given a choice, and at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-raises-my-spleen-more-than-any-thing-to-have-the-pretence-of-being/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [her spirits wanted the solitude and silence which only numbers could give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/her-spirits-wanted-the-solitude-and-silence-which-only-numbers-could/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“But in such cases as these a good memory is unpardonable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/but-in-such-cases-as-these-a-good-memory-is-unpardonable/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“...the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-pleasantness-of-an-employment-does-not-always-evince-its-propriety/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity are not worth a regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/such-squeamish-youths-as-cannot-bear-to-be-connected-with-a-little/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“I must tell you what you will not ask, though I may wish it unsaid the next moment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-must-tell-you-what-you-will-not-ask-though-i-may-wish-it-unsaid-the/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Lady Catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer; and Elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/lady-catherine-seemed-quite-astonished-at-not-receiving-a-direct/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“He had suffered, and he had learnt to think, two advantages that he had never known before…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/he-had-suffered-and-he-had-learnt-to-think-two-advantages-that-he-had/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Eliot's character; vanity of person and of situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/vanity-was-the-beginning-and-the-end-of-sir-walter-eliot-s-character/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) [Explore all 2,013 Jane Austen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## More Sense Of Duty quotes > [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/) > [He gives only the worthless gold who gives from a sense of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/he-gives-only-the-worthless-gold-who-gives-from-a-sense-of-duty/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [The enemy? His sense of duty was no less than yours, I deem. You wonder what his name is, where he came from. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/the-enemy-his-sense-of-duty-was-no-less-than-yours-i-deem-you-wonder/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) > [Courage that grows from constitution often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it; courage which arises from a sense of duty acts;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/courage-that-grows-from-constitution-often-forsakes-a-man-when-he-has/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [“feel that it had not been the most direful mistake in his plan of education. Something must have been wanting within, or time would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/feel-that-it-had-not-been-the-most-direful-mistake-in-his-plan-of/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Go ahead—read your Bible through in a year from a sense of duty. Pray for hours each day. Go to church every time the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wilkerson/go-ahead-read-your-bible-through-in-a-year-from-a-sense-of-duty-pray/) [David Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wilkerson/) > [“There is a distinct difference between the ability to create life and the innate need to protect it; to cherish it. The life you've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcguire/there-is-a-distinct-difference-between-the-ability-to-create-life-and/) [Jamie McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcguire/) > [I regret if my actions hurt anyone or harmed the United States. It was never my intent to hurt anyone. When I chose to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-manning/i-regret-if-my-actions-hurt-anyone-or-harmed-the-united-states-it-was/) [Chelsea Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-manning/) > [On the evidence we have, the meritocratic ideal ends up being just as undemocratic as the old emphasis on inheritance and tradition, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/on-the-evidence-we-have-the-meritocratic-ideal-ends-up-being-just-as/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [“What then? Are we only to buy the books that we read? The question has merely to be thus bluntly put, and it answers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/what-then-are-we-only-to-buy-the-books-that-we-read-the-question-has/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [I'm a pathetic haggler and often give more than the original price out of a misplaced sense of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-lumley/i-m-a-pathetic-haggler-and-often-give-more-than-the-original-price/) [Joanna Lumley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-lumley/) > [And what is true education? It is awakening a love for truth; giving a just sense of duty; opening the eyes of the soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-o-mckay/and-what-is-true-education-it-is-awakening-a-love-for-truth-giving-a/) [David O. 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