“2445. He's a Slave, that cannot command himself.”

“Without self knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave.”

G. I. Gurdjieff (1866–1949) influential spiritual teacher, Armenian philosopher, composer and writer

“No one is free who has not obtained the empire of himself. No man is free who cannot command himself.”

Pythagoras (-585–-495 BC) ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher

“A slave cannot be freed, save he do it himself. Nor can you enslave a free man; the very most you can do is kill him!”

Robert A. Heinlein book Double Star

“Nietzsche [claims] that the scientist is at best an instrument, a useful slave: he does not command or decide, he is not a whole man.”

John Carroll (1944) Australian professor and author

“He that cannot reason is a fool. He that will not is a bigot. He that dare not is a slave.”

Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) American businessman and philanthropist

“Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure when he is really selling himself a slave to it.”

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, …

“Since God himself is just and commands justice, the Muslim community (umma) cannot tolerate a tyrannical law or a tyrannical ruler.”

Richard A. Horsley (1939) Biblical scholar

“Much was made by abolitionists that the King James version of the Bible didn't use the word slaves, but, instead, servants. This meant, in their minds, that God didn't really approve of slavery. But that argument was linguistic at best. Slavery was codified and even sanctified in the tenth commandment, throwing slaves (and wives) in with other property belonging to one's neighbor that one must not covet. The Bible even regulated--as opposed to banning outright--the killing of slaves, stating that if a slave were beaten to death, the slave owner should be punished (though not killed himself, as would be his fate were he to kill a freeman), but if the slave didn't die until a day or two after the beating, the slave owner "shall not be punished, for he [the slave] is his money."”

Derrick Jensen book The Culture of Make Believe

“He, who will not reason, is a bigot; he, who cannot, is a fool; and he, who dares not, is a slave.”

William Drummond of Logiealmond (1770–1828) Scottish diplomat and Member of Parliament, poet and philosopher