“I do not defend Conchis’ decision at the execution, but I defend the reality of the dilemma. God and freedom are totally anti-pathetic concepts; and men believe in their imaginary gods most often because they are afraid to believe in the other thing. I am old enough to realise now that they do sometimes with good reason. True freedom lies between each two, never in one alone, and therefore is never absolute freedom.”

—  John Fowles , book The Magus

Introduction (1977 edition)
The Magus (1965)

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 "I do not defend Conchis’ decision at the execution, but I defend the reality of the dilemma. God and freedom are totall…" by John Fowles?
John Fowles photo
John Fowles 120
British writer 1926–2005

Related quotes

George W. Bush photo

“You believe in freedom of speech for communists because what they say is true. You do not believe in freedom of speech for fascists because what they say is a lie.”

John Howard Lawson (1894–1977) American politician

Speaking to the rest of the Hollywood Ten during their preparation for testimony, in answer to a hypothetical prosecution ploy, "Do you believe in free speech for fascists?" From Odd Man Out: A Memoir of the Hollywood Ten by Edward Dmytryk (1996, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, IL).

J. William Fulbright photo

“There is only one good definition of God: the freedom that allows other freedoms to exist.”

Source: The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969), Ch. 13, p. 99

H.L. Mencken photo
Dan Savage photo
William H. Pryor Jr. photo
Nathanael Greene photo

“I am determined to defend my rights and maintain my freedom or sell my life in the attempt.”

Nathanael Greene (1742–1786) American general in the American Revolutionary War

As quoted in Conflict of conviction: a reappraisal of Quaker involvement in the American Revolution (1990), by William C. Kashatus, p. 45

Albert Camus photo

“Absolute freedom mocks at justice. Absolute justice denies freedom. To be fruitful, the two ideas must find their limits in each other.”

"Historical Murder", as translated by Anthony Bower
The Rebel (1951)

Rufus Wainwright photo

“I believe in freedom
Freedom's apparently all I need
But who's ever been free in this world?
Who has never had to bleed in this world?”

Rufus Wainwright (1973) American-Canadian singer-songwriter and composer

Zebulon
Song lyrics, All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu (2010)

Related topics