“Man needs freedom, but few men are so strong as to be happy with complete freedom. A man needs to be part of a group, with accepted and respected relationships. Some men join foreign legions for adventure; still more swear on a bit of paper in order to acquire a framework of duties and obligations, customs and taboos, a time to work and a time to loaf, a comrade to dispute with and a sergeant to hate—in short, to belong.”

— Robert A. Heinlein , book Between Planets

Source: Between Planets (1951), Chapter 7, “The Detour” (p. 83)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Man needs freedom, but few men are so strong as to be happy with complete freedom. A man needs to be part of a group, w…" by Robert A. Heinlein?

Robert A. Heinlein photo

Robert A. Heinlein 557

American science fiction author 1907–1988

Related quotes

“He hated to leave, but he loved his work. He was a man, and men needed to work. More sexism! More masculine tunnel vision! More need for gender-sensitivity workshops!”

Sherman Alexie (1966) Native American author and filmmaker

Ten Little Indians (2003)

“As the painter needs his framework of parchment, the improvising musical group needs its framework in time.”

Bill Evans (1929–1980) American jazz pianist

Kind of blue liner notes.

“Men accept servility in order to acquire wealth; as if they could acquire anything of their own when they cannot even assert that they belong to themselves.”

Étienne de La Boétie book Discourse on Voluntary Servitude

Ils veulent servir pour amasser des biens: comme s'ils pouvaient rien gagner qui fût à eux, puisqu'ils ne peuvent même pas dire qu'ils sont à eux-mêmes.
Part 3
Discourse on Voluntary Servitude (1548)

“Remember that rights are moral principles which define and protect a man's freedom of action, but impose no obligations on other men.”

Ayn Rand (1905–1982) Russian-American novelist and philosopher

Source: The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism

“Few men desire freedom, the greater part desire just masters.”
Namque pauci libertatem, pars magna iustos dominos volunt.

Sallust (-86–-34 BC) Roman historian, politician

IV.69.18
Variant translation: Only a few prefer liberty, the majority seek nothing more than fair masters.
Histories

“The need for government in these respects arises because absolute freedom is impossible. However attractive anarchy may be as a philosophy, it is not feasible in a world of imperfect men.”

Milton Friedman (1912–2006) American economist, statistician, and writer

Source: (1962), Ch. 2 The Role of Government in a Free Society, p. 25

“Women, like men, ought to have their years so glutted with freedom that they hate the very idea of freedom.”

Vita Sackville-West (1892–1962) English writer and gardener

Letter to her husband Harold Nicolson (1 June 1919); published in Harold and Vita (1992), by Nigel Nicolson, p. 89

“Man’s freedom is lacking if somebody else controls what he needs, for need may result in man’s enslavement of man.”

Muammar Gaddafi book The Green Book

The Green Book (1975)
The Green Book (1975)

“As part of this experiment we must not only accept human nature but work with what we have to make it productive. We inevitably feel the need for status and recognition, so let’s not deny it. Instead, let’s cultivate such status and recognition through our excellent work. We must accept our need to belong to the group and prove our loyalty, but let’s do it in more positive ways—by questioning group decisions that will harm it in the long run, by supplying divergent opinions, by steering the group in a more rational direction, gently and strategically.”

Robert Greene (1959) American author

Chap. 14 : Resist the Downward Pull of the Group
The Laws of Human Nature (2018)

“There can be no freedom if one man or one group of men... is assumed... inherently perfect or perfectible. Its claim to perfection or perfectibility is a claim to absolute rule.”

Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) American business consultant

Source: 1930s- 1950s, The Future of Industrial Man (1942), p. 122

Related topics