Noblesse oblige
In French, "noblesse oblige" means, literally, "nobility obliges".
Meaning and variants
"Noblesse oblige" is generally used to imply that with wealth, power, and prestige come social responsibilities. The phrase is sometimes used derisively, in the sense of condescending or hypocritical social responsibility. The term has also been applied more broadly to those who are capable of simple acts to help another, usually one who is less fortunate.
In ethical discussion, it is sometimes used to summarize a moral economy wherein privilege must be balanced by duty towards those who lack such privilege or who cannot perform such duty. Finally, it has been used recently primarily to refer to public responsibilities of the rich, famous, and powerful, notably to provide good examples of behaviour or to exceed minimal standards of decency.
History and examples
The first recorded use of the phrase was in Honoré de Balzac's book "Le Lys dans la vallée", written in 1835 and published in 1836. It was also recorded in an 1837 letter from F. A. Kemble: “To be sure, if ‘noblesse oblige,’ royalty must do so still more.”
The phrase is used as the motto for the National Honor Society. [source needed]
William Faulkner uses the term many times in his novels and short stories, including the famous The Sound and the Fury and "A Rose for Emily."
In the book Athens on Trial, Jennifer Tolbert Roberts provides an example of noblesse oblige in the liturgies of ancient Athens — public burdens assigned to the wealthy such as outfitting warships, holding banquets and training choruses for dramatic performances. She notes, “The rich were understandably ambivalent about exercising this sort of ‘privilege’; noblesse oblige could be very expensive.”
"Indeed you can usually tell when the concepts of democracy and citizenship are weakening. There is an increase in the role of charity and in the worship of volunteerism. These represent the élite citizen's imitation of noblesse oblige; that is, of pretending to be aristocrats or oligarchs, as opposed to being citizens." — John Ralston Saul
"Despotisms endure while they are benevolent, and aristocracies while noblesse oblige is not a phrase to be referred to with a cynical smile. Even an oligarchy might be permanent if the spirit of human kindness, which harmonises all things otherwise incompatible, is present." — George William Russell
A modern version of this can be found in the origins of the Marvel Comics character Spiderman: "With great power comes great responsibility."
Historically, the concept finds its roots in nearly all of the major religions of the world. It frequently appears as a requirement to take care of those less fortunate by leaving small amounts of standing grain in the fields (Old Testament), ensuring everyone is treated equally in the distribution of joint possessions (New Testament), or giving a portion of your income to charity (Koran). It focuses on the voluntary redistribution of wealth in these cases. In other situations where power is an issue, it can be seen in the role of the knight to protect those who could not protect themselves, or in the Code of Hammurabi (the king imposing his obligation), c. 1780 BCE, to provide recourse for all people before the law. Thus, the concept is very old, but the phraseology is relatively recent.
See also
Sources
- The Oxford English Dictionary (1989). New York: Oxford University Press.
- Roberts, Jennifer Tolbert. Athens on Trial: The antidemocratic tradition in western thought. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1994.