I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.

The statement frames privilege as inseparable from moral accountability. By pairing “right” with “responsibility,” “opportunity” with “obligation,” and “possession” with “duty,” it argues that advantages—legal, social, or economic—are not merely to be enjoyed but to be stewarded for constructive ends. In Rockefeller’s case, the sentiment aligns with late-19th- and early-20th-century ideas of stewardship and philanthropy among industrial magnates: wealth and power were often justified (or morally repaired) through public benefaction. The aphoristic structure also functions rhetorically as a self-imposed ethic, presenting a code meant to discipline self-interest by converting it into service.