I asked about the Spider-Man credo, "With great power there must come great responsibility" and boy, did I get answers. As to the question of whether Winston Churchill said it, the answer apparently is no. What he said was "The Price of Greatness is Responsibility," which was the title of this essay. This was pointed out to me, one way or the other, by Stan Taylor, Jim Drew, Ken Quattro, Jeffery Stevenson, Tom Leach, Allen Montgomery, Martin Gately, Jason Crane, Russ Maheras, Bob Heer and some guy named Marv Wolfman who owes me a lunch.
Earl Wells writes that something like it was uttered or almost uttered by someone named Roosevelt…
As far as I know, the quote that comes closest to the line in the Spider-Man story is from a speech that FDR was going to deliver at the Jefferson Day Dinner in 1945; he died the day before: "Today we have learned in the agony of war that great power involves great responsibility." (From Nothing to Fear, ed. by Ben D. Zevin, p. 464 of the 1961 Popular Library paperback; the book was originally published in 1946 by the World Publishing Company.)
A similar remark is in FDR's 1945 state of the union address: "In a democratic world, as in a democratic Nation, power must be linked with responsibility… ." (From Living Ideas in America, ed. by Henry Steele Commager, p. 703 of the 1951 Harper & Brothers hardcover.)
And Theodore Roosevelt said something like it in a 1908 letter: "…I believe in power; but I believe that responsibility should go with power…" (From T.R.: The Last Romantic by H.W. Brands, pp. 628-9 of the 1997 Basic Books hardcover; the letter was published by Harvard in The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt, 8 volumes, 1951-54.)
These are just the ones I've noticed over the years; I wouldn't be surprised if there are others. But Lee & Ditko said it best! (All or some of this may be on the Internet somewhere, but I'm too lazy to check.)
My pal Nate Butler thinks it may come from a higher authority…
I heard Stan Lee speak at a college in Connecticut many, many years ago…and/or I read it later in an interview with him…where he said he enjoyed reading the Bible as Great Literature and a source of story ideas. I think he may have said at that time that the "with great power comes great responsibility" quote was adapted from what Jesus Christ says in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verse 48: "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."
That's the King James version that Stan might have read years ago. A contemporary translation reads: "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."
Some other quotes were pointed out to me as being similar but not exact…
- "Responsibility walks hand in hand with capacity and power." — Josiah Gilbert Holland. (Sent by Jeffery Stevenson and Russ Maheras.)
- "Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility." — Louis Armstrong. (Sent by Russ Maheras, who notes this was apparently not the Louis Armstrong with the trumpet.)
- "Power without responsibility…the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages." — Rudyard Kipling. (Sent by Stephen Soymonoff.)
- "It is a sad reflection…that a sense of responsibility which comes with power is the rarest of things." — Alexander Crummell. (Also sent by Stephen Soymonoff.)
- "To whom much is given, much is required." — John F. Kennedy. (Sent by Ron Goldberg and Ali T. Kokmen.)
Also, Lee Barnett sends us to this page where several authors fiddle with the concept, including Christine de Pisan, according to whom, "the greater the power that individuals have, the greater their responsibility for the moral and material welfare of the people who depend on them."
Lastly, several folks pointed out that I left a word out of the quote. Here's a note from Danny Fingeroth, who used to be the editor of all the Spider-Man comics at Marvel…
The actual line from Amazing Fantasy #15 is said by the narrator. It goes: "And a lean, silent figure slowly fades into the gathering darkness, aware at last that in this world, with great power there must also come — great responsibility!"
The "there must also" part is often left out, but one could say that it's what makes Peter a hero and not a villain, since a villain might not see that he has a responsibility, even after a lesson like Peter got. (Although, of course, the best villains see themselves as responsible heroes.)
A good point. In fact, I remember a couple of different periods of the Spider-Man comic (not yours, as I recall) where I sure got the feeling that the writer either didn't get that or simply didn't understand the concept of volunteerism. I made that observation to one of his associates and got the reply, "Yeah…him writing about helping others is like an Orthodox Jew writing about the joys of pulled pork sandwiches."
Danny also suggests that I ask Stan Lee if he remembers where he got it. That's a good one, Danny. And thanks to all who answered or tried to answer my question.