--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: purity of a sort is easily had where…" description: "\"“purity of a sort is easily had where responsibilities are not assumed. The”\" — Richard Hofstadter" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab8/richard-hofstadter-12288_purity_purity-of-a-sort-is-easily-had-where-res_133565.png" --- # purity of a sort is easily had where responsibilities are… ![“purity of a sort is easily had where responsibilities are not assumed. The” quote by Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab8/richard-hofstadter-12288_purity_purity-of-a-sort-is-easily-had-where-res_133565.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab8/richard-hofstadter-12288_purity_purity-of-a-sort-is-easily-had-where-res_133565.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab8/richard-hofstadter-12288_purity_purity-of-a-sort-is-easily-had-where-res_133565.png) > ““purity of a sort is easily had where responsibilities are not assumed. The”” [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Purity is easy when no one takes on duties; responsibility challenges moral cleanliness. **In simple terms:** Responsibility makes purity hard. Key Takeaway Embrace accountability. Themes ethics responsibility politics Mood critical analytical Type philosophical inquisitive When to use this quote - Leadership roles - public service - volunteering - decision making Key Concepts Moral philosophy social duty Questions to Reflect On - Can responsibility coexist with moral purity? - What costs arise from taking duties? A Different Perspective Purity can be a façade for avoidance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Purity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purity/) [Responsibilities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibilities/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) ## Related quotes > [I'm less concerned about whether being a good corporate citizen burnishes a company's reputation. That's just an added benefit. I believe it's a responsibility,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-burns/i-m-less-concerned-about-whether-being-a-good-corporate-citizen/) [Ursula Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-burns/) > [Since I became chairman, I've tried to turn EFF into civil liberties and responsibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-dyson/since-i-became-chairman-i-ve-tried-to-turn-eff-into-civil-liberties/) [Esther Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-dyson/) > [When you take a position, you have to accept responsibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radhanath-swami/when-you-take-a-position-you-have-to-accept-responsibilities/) [Radhanath Swami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radhanath-swami/) > [Freedom is not constituted primarily of privileges but of responsibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/freedom-is-not-constituted-primarily-of-privileges-but-of/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Each restorational advancement of the Army of the Lord has established denominational forts that are given responsibility to maintain the purity and power of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hamon/each-restorational-advancement-of-the-army-of-the-lord-has/) [Bill Hamon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hamon/) > [“Knowing your responsibilities doesn't make you mature but acting up on it does.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-de-leon/knowing-your-responsibilities-doesn-t-make-you-mature-but-acting-up/) Caroline de Leon > [The United Nations will be at the heart of our international activities. France will assume its full responsibilities at the Security Council by putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-hollande/the-united-nations-will-be-at-the-heart-of-our-international/) [Francois Hollande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-hollande/) > [I enjoy the opportunities given to me by Niko Kovac and the responsibilities that come with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serge-gnabry/i-enjoy-the-opportunities-given-to-me-by-niko-kovac-and-the/) [Serge Gnabry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/serge-gnabry/) > [I've heard this before from people: early 20s kind of screws with your head a little bit because you're transitioning into adulthood and actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-byrd/i-ve-heard-this-before-from-people-early-20s-kind-of-screws-with-your/) [Dan Byrd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-byrd/) > [Secondly, security. Both the challenges we face in the world and the responsibilities that our country has in protecting our people, are major issues.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/secondly-security-both-the-challenges-we-face-in-the-world-and-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm actually a dad, I've grown up, and got responsibilities, so... I've got a purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-carroll/i-m-actually-a-dad-i-ve-grown-up-and-got-responsibilities-so-i-ve-got/) [Andy Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-carroll/) > [I will stay very focused on my responsibilities as Secretary of Commerce and the economy's doing well. I mean, you asked about some of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-evans/i-will-stay-very-focused-on-my-responsibilities-as-secretary-of/) [Donald Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-evans/) > [Once I had asked God for one or two extra inches in height, but instead, he made me as tall as the sky, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malala-yousafzai/once-i-had-asked-god-for-one-or-two-extra-inches-in-height-but/) [Malala Yousafzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malala-yousafzai/) > [You don't want to have so much money going toward your mortgage every month that you can't enjoy life or take care of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-ramsey/you-don-t-want-to-have-so-much-money-going-toward-your-mortgage-every/) [Dave Ramsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-ramsey/) > [As immigrants, we understand better than most that to be an American is a privilege that conveys not just rights but responsibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-immigrants-we-understand-better-than-most-that-to-be-an-american/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Richard Hofstadter > [Anti-Catholicism has always been the pornography of the Puritan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/anti-catholicism-has-always-been-the-pornography-of-the-puritan/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [It is a part of the intellectual's tragedy that the things he most values about himself and his work are quite unlike those society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/it-is-a-part-of-the-intellectual-s-tragedy-that-the-things-he-most/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [It has been our fate as a nation not to have ideologies but to be one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/it-has-been-our-fate-as-a-nation-not-to-have-ideologies-but-to-be-one/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [“The truly creative mind is hardly ever so much alone as when it is trying to be sociable. The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/the-truly-creative-mind-is-hardly-ever-so-much-alone-as-when-it-is/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [“They thought man was a creature of rapacious self-interest, and yet they wanted him to be free- free, in essence, to contend, to engage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/they-thought-man-was-a-creature-of-rapacious-self-interest-and-yet/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [It is a poor head that cannot find plausible reason for doing what the heart wants to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/it-is-a-poor-head-that-cannot-find-plausible-reason-for-doing-what/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [It is possible that the distinction between moral relativism and moral absolutism has sometimes been blurred because an excessively consistent practice of either leads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/it-is-possible-that-the-distinction-between-moral-relativism-and/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [To be sick and helpless is a humiliating experience. Prolonged illness also carries the hazard of narcissistic self-absorption.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/to-be-sick-and-helpless-is-a-humiliating-experience-prolonged-illness/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [There has always been in our national experience a type of mind which elevates hatred to a kind of creed; for this mind, group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/there-has-always-been-in-our-national-experience-a-type-of-mind-which/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [The intellectual's ... playfulness, in its various manifestations, is likely to seem to most men a perverse luxury; in the United States the play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/the-intellectual-s-playfulness-in-its-various-manifestations-is/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [“...the danger that American society as a whole will over-esteem intellect or assign it such a transcendent value as to displace other legitimate values…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/the-danger-that-american-society-as-a-whole-will-over-esteem/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [To be confronted with a simple and unqualified evil is no doubt a kind of luxury…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/to-be-confronted-with-a-simple-and-unqualified-evil-is-no-doubt-a/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [“When one considers American history as a whole, it is hard to think of any very long period in which it could be said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/when-one-considers-american-history-as-a-whole-it-is-hard-to-think-of/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [If there is anything more dangerous to the life of the mind than having no independent commitment to ideas, it is having an excess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/if-there-is-anything-more-dangerous-to-the-life-of-the-mind-than/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) > [“Progressivism, in short, was to a very considerable extent led by men who suffered from the events of their time not through a shrinkage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/progressivism-in-short-was-to-a-very-considerable-extent-led-by-men/) [Richard Hofstadter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) [Explore all 55 Richard Hofstadter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/) ## More Purity quotes > [“In the United States law, federally designated wilderness is famously defined as 'an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-marris/in-the-united-states-law-federally-designated-wilderness-is-famously/) [Emma Marris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-marris/) > [Sorrow and happiness are the heresies of virtue; joy and anger lead astray from TAO; love and hate cause loss of virtue. The heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhuangzi/sorrow-and-happiness-are-the-heresies-of-virtue-joy-and-anger-lead/) [Zhuangzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhuangzi/) > [So far as female beauty is concerned, the Circassian women have no superiors. They have preserved in their mountain home the purity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bayard-taylor/so-far-as-female-beauty-is-concerned-the-circassian-women-have-no/) [Bayard Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bayard-taylor/) > [Lust indulged became habit, and habit unresisted became necessity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/lust-indulged-became-habit-and-habit-unresisted-became-necessity/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [Nothing but free argument, raillery and even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/nothing-but-free-argument-raillery-and-even-ridicule-will-preserve/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [And their conviction is that if it is done with that kind of purity it will go somewhere. I believe that with all my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-berrigan/and-their-conviction-is-that-if-it-is-done-with-that-kind-of-purity/) [Daniel Berrigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-berrigan/) > [Winning has a joy and discrete purity to it that cannot be replaced by anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-bartlett-giamatti/winning-has-a-joy-and-discrete-purity-to-it-that-cannot-be-replaced/) [A. Bartlett Giamatti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-bartlett-giamatti/) > [How great is the position of the man who is born of God, born of purity, born of faith, born of life, born of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/smith-wigglesworth/how-great-is-the-position-of-the-man-who-is-born-of-god-born-of/) [Smith Wigglesworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/smith-wigglesworth/) > [In meditation you withdraw from others and focus your attention inside to gain purity of mind and wisdom energy. Then you must become extroverted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-n-goenka/in-meditation-you-withdraw-from-others-and-focus-your-attention/) [S. N. Goenka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-n-goenka/) > [No one has ever laughed at a pun who did not see in the one word a twofold meaning. To materialists this world is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/no-one-has-ever-laughed-at-a-pun-who-did-not-see-in-the-one-word-a/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [Fasting is not bodily hunger but bodily elevation and purity. It is not a body that hungers and longs for food, but a body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-shenouda-iii-of-alexandria/fasting-is-not-bodily-hunger-but-bodily-elevation-and-purity-it-is/) [Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-shenouda-iii-of-alexandria/) > [Purity in person and in morals is true godliness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hosea-ballou/purity-in-person-and-in-morals-is-true-godliness/) [Hosea Ballou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hosea-ballou/) > [“Poetry is pure thoughts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/poetry-is-pure-thoughts/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Each restorational advancement of the Army of the Lord has established denominational forts that are given responsibility to maintain the purity and power of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hamon/each-restorational-advancement-of-the-army-of-the-lord-has/) [Bill Hamon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hamon/) > [Among the principles of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah lie the attitude of peace and purity of their heart and tongue towards the Sahaba(Companions)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-taymiyyah/among-the-principles-of-the-ahlus-sunnah-wal-jama-ah-lie-the-attitude/) [Ibn Taymiyyah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-taymiyyah/) [Browse all 1,244 Purity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“purity of a sort is easily had where responsibilities are not assumed. The”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Hofstadter" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/purity-of-a-sort-is-easily-had-where-responsibilities-are-not-assumed/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Purity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/purity-of-a-sort-is-easily-had-where-responsibilities-are-not-assumed/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab8/richard-hofstadter-12288_purity_purity-of-a-sort-is-easily-had-where-res_133565.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab8/richard-hofstadter-12288_purity_purity-of-a-sort-is-easily-had-where-res_133565.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab8/richard-hofstadter-12288_purity_purity-of-a-sort-is-easily-had-where-res_133565.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“purity of a sort is easily had where responsibilities are not assumed. The” — Richard Hofstadter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Richard Hofstadter", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hofstadter/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“purity of a sort is easily...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/purity-of-a-sort-is-easily-had-where-responsibilities-are-not-assumed/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hofstadter/purity-of-a-sort-is-easily-had-where-responsibilities-are-not-assumed/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```