Similar phrasing is sometimes misattributed to the French writer Voltaire. The full hadith describes the responsibility of leaders, imams, husbands, and wives both for the actions and well-being of those entrusted to their care.ĭuring the French Revolution, the Committee of Public Safety published the following as part of its "Plan of Work, Surveillance, and Correspondence" ( French: Plan de travail, de surveillance et de correspondance): Ils doivent envisager qu'une grande responsabilité est la suite inséparable d'un grand pouvoir, " must understand that a great responsibility is the inseparable result of a great power". This is rendered in the King James Version as "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more" and in the New International Version as "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked".Īn Islamic parallel appears in a hadith traditionally attributed via Ibn Umar to the prophet Muhammad: كُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْؤولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ ( Arabic: Kullkum rāʿin wa kullkum masʾūl ʿan raʿiyyatta), "All of you are shepherds and each of you is responsible for his flock" or "herd". The historical Dionysius was known for treating his subjects harshly and was deposed twice, eventually dying in exile and poverty in Corinth.Īn early Christian parallel appears at the end of Jesus's Parable of the Faithful Servant as related in Luke 12:48: παντὶ δὲ ᾧ ἐδόθη πολύ, πολὺ ζητηθήσεται παρ’αὐτοῦ, καὶ ᾧ παρέθεντο πολύ, περισσότερον αἰτήσουσιν αὐτόν ( Greek: pantì dè hō̂i edóthē polý, polý zētēthḗsetai par'autoû, kai hō̂i paréthento polý, perissóteron aitḗsousin autón). His happiness was abruptly ended when he found that a sword had been suspended above the throne by a single horsehair, indicating the worry of monarchs-particularly tyrants-over the precariousness of their rule. Probably retold from earlier but now lost accounts by Timaeus and Diodorus, Cicero relates that the courtier Damocles was overjoyed at the chance to trade places with the 4th century BC tyrant of Syracuse Dionysius the Younger for a day. Reminders that power is not only fun and games and should not be exploited at will are at least as old as the legend of the Sword of Damocles preserved in the 1st century BC Tusculan Disputations of the Roman orator Cicero. Screenshot of the use by Wikimedia of the phrase in the Wikimedia Foundation's guidelines for how to edit Wikipedia. The formulation-usually in its Marvel Comics form-has been used by journalists, authors, and other writers, including the Supreme Court of the United States. After it was popularized by the Spider-Man franchise, similar formulations have been noticed in the work of earlier writers and orators. ![]() The idea-similar to the 1st century BC parable of the Sword of Damocles and the medieval principle of noblesse oblige-is that power cannot simply be enjoyed for its privileges alone but necessarily makes its holders morally responsible both for what they choose to do with it and for what they fail to do with it. ![]() Introduced by Stan Lee, it originally appeared as a closing narration in the 1962 Amazing Fantasy #15, and was later attributed to Uncle Ben as advice to the young Peter Parker. " With great power comes great responsibility" is an adage popularized by Spider-Man in Marvel comics, films, and related media. DreamHaven Books, a book store in Minneapolis using the famous quote in its store during the aftermath of the George Floyd protests
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