“From my point of view, compatibilism is a little like saying: a puppet is free so long as it loves its strings.”

—  Sam Harris

Sam Harris at Sydney Opera House Festival of Dangerous Ideas 2012, Discussion on Free Will http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM3raA1EwrI.
2010s

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 "From my point of view, compatibilism is a little like saying: a puppet is free so long as it loves its strings." by Sam Harris?
Sam Harris photo
Sam Harris 151
American author, philosopher and neuroscientist 1967

Related quotes

Sam Harris photo

“A puppet is free as long as he loves his strings.”

Source: Free Will

W. Somerset Maugham photo

“Money is the string with which a sardonic destiny directs the motions of its puppets.”

W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) British playwright, novelist, short story writer

Quoted in Somerset Maugham (1980) by Ted Morgan

Tom Robbins photo

“My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free.”

Bernard to Leigh-Cheri, in Phase III, Ch. 46
Still Life with Woodpecker (1980)
Context: Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won’t adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean that security is out of the question. The words “make” and “stay” become inappropriate. My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free.

Alan Moore photo

“We’re all puppets, Laurie. I’m just a puppet who can see the strings.”

Source: Doctor Manhattan, in Watchmen #9 (referring to Doctor Manhattans's theory of time)

R. Scott Bakker photo
Miyamoto Musashi photo

“Some other schools have a liking for extra-long swords. From the point of view of my strategy these must be seen as weak schools.”

Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645) Japanese martial artist, writer, artist

Go Rin No Sho (1645), The Wind Book
Context: Some other schools have a liking for extra-long swords. From the point of view of my strategy these must be seen as weak schools. This is because they do not appreciate the principle of cutting the enemy by any means. Their preference is for the extra-long sword and, relying on the virtue of its length, they think to defeat the enemy from a distance.
In this world it is said, "One inch gives the hand advantage", but these are the idle words of one who does not know strategy. It shows the inferior strategy of a weak spirit that men should be dependant on the length of their sword, fighting from a distance without the benefit of strategy.

“It may be that we are puppets — puppets controlled by the strings of society. But at least we are puppets with perception, with awareness. And perhaps our awareness is the first step to our liberation.”

Stanley Milgram (1933–1984) Social psychologist

As quoted in The Social Dimensions Of Law And Justice In Contemporary India (1979) by V. R. Krishna Iyer
Context: It may be that we are puppets — puppets controlled by the strings of society. But at least we are puppets with perception, with awareness. And perhaps our awareness is the first step to our liberation. The fact that obedience is often a necessity in human society does not diminish our responsibility as citizens. Rather, it confers on us a special obligation to place in positions of authority those most likely to use it humanely. And people are inventive. The variety of political forms we have seen in history are only several of many possible political arrangements. Perhaps the next step is to invent and to explore political forms that will give conscience a better chance to resist errant authority.

Barry Lyga photo
Jim Henson photo
Georg Büchner photo

“We are only puppets, our strings are being pulled by unknown forces.”

Act II.
Dantons Tod (Danton's Death) (1835)

Related topics