---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every right is married to a duty; every…"
description: "\"Every right is married to a duty; every freedom owes a corresponding responsibility; and there cannot be genuine freedom unless there exists also genui..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11a/russell-kirk-6909_corresponding_every-right-is-married-to-a-duty-every-f_2968378.jpg"
---

#  Every right is married to a duty; every freedom owes a…

![“Every right is married to a duty; every freedom owes a corresponding responsibility; and there cannot be genuine freedom unless there exists also genuine order, in the moral realm and in the social realm.” quote by Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11a/russell-kirk-6909_corresponding_every-right-is-married-to-a-duty-every-f_2968378.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11a/russell-kirk-6909_corresponding_every-right-is-married-to-a-duty-every-f_2968378.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11a/russell-kirk-6909_corresponding_every-right-is-married-to-a-duty-every-f_2968378.jpg)

> “Every right is married to a duty; every freedom owes a corresponding responsibility; and there cannot be genuine freedom unless there exists also genuine order, in the moral realm and in the social realm.”

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Freedom and duty are linked; genuine freedom needs order in both moral and social realms.

**In simple terms:** Freedom requires duty and order.

Key Takeaway

Balance liberty with responsibility.

Themes

politics ethics society

Mood

thoughtful serious

Type

philosophical political

When to use this quote

- civic engagement
- lawmaking
- community building

Key Concepts

social contract moral philosophy

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you ensure order supports freedom?
- What responsibilities accompany your freedoms?

A Different Perspective

Too much order can stifle freedom.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Realms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realms/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/)

## Related quotes

> [Every right is married to a duty, every freedom owes a corresponding responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/every-right-is-married-to-a-duty-every-freedom-owes-a-corresponding/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [“Monogamy is not a choice, it is a responsibility of a genuine human.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/monogamy-is-not-a-choice-it-is-a-responsibility-of-a-genuine-human/)

[Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/)

> [“In the moral realm, there is very little consensus left in Western countries over the proper basis of moral behavior. And because of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-a-carson-2/in-the-moral-realm-there-is-very-little-consensus-left-in-western/)

[D.A. Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-carson-2/)

> [ “‎"The indictment \[the Western/modern question, 'Why be moral?'\] also issued from a gross underrating of the 'moral' force that was regarded within the Islamic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wael-b-hallaq/the-indictment-the-western-modern-question-why-be-moral-also-issued/)

Wael B. Hallaq

> [Political and social justice requires, not the disintegration of a country and destruction or humiliation of a class which shows initiative, intelligence and drive,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syama-prasad-mukherjee/political-and-social-justice-requires-not-the-disintegration-of-a/)

[Syama Prasad Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syama-prasad-mukherjee/)

> [The cry for freedom is a sign of suppression. It will not cease to ring as long as man feels himself captive. As diverse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/the-cry-for-freedom-is-a-sign-of-suppression-it-will-not-cease-to/)

[Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/)

> [ \[T\]he Christian religion, in its purity, is the basis, or rather the source of all genuine freedom in government. . . . and I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-webster/t-he-christian-religion-in-its-purity-is-the-basis-or-rather-the/)

[Noah Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-webster/)

> [Only a work democracy can create the foundation of genuine freedom. Long experience in sociological disputes leads me to expect that a great many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/only-a-work-democracy-can-create-the-foundation-of-genuine-freedom/)

[Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/)

> [Genuine freedom is possible only where there is genuine love. And genuine love is not possible without truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-o-brien/genuine-freedom-is-possible-only-where-there-is-genuine-love-and/)

[Michael O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-o-brien/)

> [“Genuine freedom is not based upon the negative psychology of release. Its roots are in positive acts of dedication to ends and values. Freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-nisbet/genuine-freedom-is-not-based-upon-the-negative-psychology-of-release/)

[Robert A. Nisbet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-nisbet/)

> [Those who advocate either slavery or income taxation should be ashamed of themselves. Genuine freedom entails the abolition, not the reform, of income taxation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-g-hornberger/those-who-advocate-either-slavery-or-income-taxation-should-be/)

[Jacob G. Hornberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-g-hornberger/)

> [No citizen enjoys genuine freedom of religious conviction until the state is indifferent to every form of religious outlook from Atheism to Zoroastrianism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-laski/no-citizen-enjoys-genuine-freedom-of-religious-conviction-until-the/)

[Harold Laski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-laski/)

> [...it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral. I have cross-examined these men, one of them a hard-headed countryman, one a farrier, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-was-a-huge-creature-luminous-ghastly-and-spectral-i-have-cross/)

[Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/)

> [I think that to transfuse emotion - not to transmit thought but to set up in the reader's sense a vibration corresponding to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/i-think-that-to-transfuse-emotion-not-to-transmit-thought-but-to-set/)

[A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/)

> [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

## More by Russell Kirk

> [“Only portions of the globe still enslaved by the enemies of the people refrained from congratulating President Zingu and Premier Villiers-Kolama upon the astounding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/only-portions-of-the-globe-still-enslaved-by-the-enemies-of-the/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [“Manfredo -- Your Excellency -- how can you, even you, hope...?" "Life is a jest, and all things show it, my dear," I replied;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/manfredo-your-excellency-how-can-you-even-you-hope-life-is-a-jest-and/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [“Today, as in the past, we ought to remind ourselves that the true natural law is not a mere congeries of appetites, and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/today-as-in-the-past-we-ought-to-remind-ourselves-that-the-true/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [Moral decay first hampers and then strangles honest government, regular commerce, and even the ability to take genuine pleasure in the goods of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/moral-decay-first-hampers-and-then-strangles-honest-government/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [ “Men are put into this world, he \[the enlightened conservative\] realizes, to struggle, to suffer, to contend against the evil that is in their… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/men-are-put-into-this-world-he-the-enlightened-conservative-realizes/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [Mine was not an Enlightened mind, I now was aware: it was a Gothic mind, medieval in its temper and structure. I did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/mine-was-not-an-enlightened-mind-i-now-was-aware-it-was-a-gothic-mind/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [Humility, which Burke ranked high among the virtues, is the only effectual restraint upon this congenital vanity; yet our world has nearly forgotten the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/humility-which-burke-ranked-high-among-the-virtues-is-the-only/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [Rousseau and his disciples were resolved to force men to be free; in most of the world, they triumphed; men are set free from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/rousseau-and-his-disciples-were-resolved-to-force-men-to-be-free-in/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [Politics moves upward into ethics, and ethics ascends to theology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/politics-moves-upward-into-ethics-and-ethics-ascends-to-theology/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [If men are discharged of reverence for ancient usage, they will treat this world, almost certainly, as if it were their private property, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/if-men-are-discharged-of-reverence-for-ancient-usage-they-will-treat/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [“The Conservative Mind describes a cast of intellect or a type of character, an inclination to cherish the permanent things in human existence. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/the-conservative-mind-describes-a-cast-of-intellect-or-a-type-of/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [Privilege, in any society, is the reward of duties performed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/privilege-in-any-society-is-the-reward-of-duties-performed/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [“There are six canons of conservative thought: 1) Belief in a transcendent order, or body of natural law, which rules society as well as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/there-are-six-canons-of-conservative-thought-1-belief-in-a/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [The Secular City, having legislated and litigated itself out of any entanglement with the City of God, would be a hell upon earth .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/the-secular-city-having-legislated-and-litigated-itself-out-of-any/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [Why do we not exhaust the heritage of the ages, spiritual and material for our immediate pleasure, and let posterity go hang? So far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/why-do-we-not-exhaust-the-heritage-of-the-ages-spiritual-and-material/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

[Explore all 96 Russell Kirk quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

## More Corresponding quotes

> [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [...it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral. I have cross-examined these men, one of them a hard-headed countryman, one a farrier, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-was-a-huge-creature-luminous-ghastly-and-spectral-i-have-cross/)

[Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/)

> [I think that to transfuse emotion - not to transmit thought but to set up in the reader's sense a vibration corresponding to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/i-think-that-to-transfuse-emotion-not-to-transmit-thought-but-to-set/)

[A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/)

> [How could a readiness for war in time of peace be safely prohibited, unless we could prohibit, in like manner, the preparations and establishments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/how-could-a-readiness-for-war-in-time-of-peace-be-safely-prohibited/)

[James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/)

> [So now that the illusion of infinite growth is being exposed, the corresponding ballooning entitlements that enticed the larger public to become complicit in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-hugh-smith/so-now-that-the-illusion-of-infinite-growth-is-being-exposed-the/)

[Charles Hugh Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-hugh-smith/)

> [Sin is one thing but instinctive reaction or passion is another. These are our reactions: pride, anger, sexual indulgence, hate, greed, and so on.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorotheus-of-gaza/sin-is-one-thing-but-instinctive-reaction-or-passion-is-another-these/)

[Dorotheus of Gaza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorotheus-of-gaza/)

> [In business, standards establish the rules of the game, creating path dependencies as investments are made and corresponding designs are set in stone and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/in-business-standards-establish-the-rules-of-the-game-creating-path/)

[Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/)

> [But too often the goal of the planners is a universal gray state of health corresponding to absence of disease rather than to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-dubos/but-too-often-the-goal-of-the-planners-is-a-universal-gray-state-of/)

[Rene Dubos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-dubos/)

> [Neither the true nor the false roots are always real; sometimes they are imaginary; that is, while we can always imagine as many roots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/neither-the-true-nor-the-false-roots-are-always-real-sometimes-they/)

[Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/)

> [Vanity, fear, desire, competition - all such distortions within our own egos - condition our vision of those in relation to us. Add to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/vanity-fear-desire-competition-all-such-distortions-within-our-own/)

[Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/)

> [Since everything in nature answers to a moral power, if any phenomenon remains brute and dark, it is that the corresponding faculty in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/since-everything-in-nature-answers-to-a-moral-power-if-any-phenomenon/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Our defining gift as humans is our power to choose, including our power to choose our collective future. It is a gift that comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-korten/our-defining-gift-as-humans-is-our-power-to-choose-including-our/)

[David Korten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-korten/)

> [The most important benefit of patience consists in the way it acts as a powerful antidote to the affliction of anger - the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/the-most-important-benefit-of-patience-consists-in-the-way-it-acts-as/)

[Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/)

> [When Catholicism goes bad it becomes the world-old, world-wide religio of amulets and holy places and priestcraft. Protestantism,in its corresponding decay, becomes a vague…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/when-catholicism-goes-bad-it-becomes-the-world-old-world-wide-religio/)

[C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/)

> [Many words are not proof of the wise man, because the sage only talk when it's needed, and the words are measured and corresponding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thales/many-words-are-not-proof-of-the-wise-man-because-the-sage-only-talk/)

[Thales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thales/)

Browse all 167 Corresponding quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Every right is married to a duty; every freedom owes a corresponding responsibility; and there cannot be genuine freedom unless there exists also genuine order, in the moral realm and in the social realm.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Russell Kirk"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/every-right-is-married-to-a-duty-every-freedom-owes-a-corresponding-2/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Corresponding"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/every-right-is-married-to-a-duty-every-freedom-owes-a-corresponding-2/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11a/russell-kirk-6909_corresponding_every-right-is-married-to-a-duty-every-f_2968378.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11a/russell-kirk-6909_corresponding_every-right-is-married-to-a-duty-every-f_2968378.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11a/russell-kirk-6909_corresponding_every-right-is-married-to-a-duty-every-f_2968378.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Every right is married to a duty; every freedom owes a corresponding responsibility; and there cannot be…” — Russell Kirk",
                "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": "Russell Kirk",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Every right is married to a...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/every-right-is-married-to-a-duty-every-freedom-owes-a-corresponding-2/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/every-right-is-married-to-a-duty-every-freedom-owes-a-corresponding-2/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
