“Happy slaves are the bitterest enemies of freedom”

—  Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

Source: Aphorisms (1880/1893), p. 77.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Oct. 3, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Happy slaves are the bitterest enemies of freedom" by Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach?
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach photo
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach 81
Austrian writer 1830–1916

Related quotes

W. Somerset Maugham photo

“Self-doubt, which is the artist’s bitterest enemy.”

W. Somerset Maugham book The Moon and Sixpence

Source: The Moon and Sixpence (1919), Ch. 43, p. 153

Alexis De Tocqueville photo

“He who seeks freedom for anything but freedom's self is made to be a slave.”

Alexis De Tocqueville book The Old Regime and the Revolution

Original text: Qui cherche dans la liberté autre chose qu'elle-même est fait pour servir.
Variant translation: The man who asks of freedom anything other than itself is born to be a slave.
Old Regime (1856), p. 204 http://books.google.com/books?id=N50aibeL8BAC&pg=PA204&vq=%22He+who+seeks+freedom%22&source=gbs_search_r&cad=1_1
1850s and later

Washington Irving photo

“Two small aisles on each side of this chapel present a touching instance of the equality of the grave; which brings down the oppressor to a level with the oppressed, and mingles the dust of the bitterest enemies together.”

Washington Irving book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.

"Westminster Abbey".
The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819–1820)

“In the case of the exploitation of slave labor, by contrast, things are exceedingly clear. Slaves, who exist as a sort of animal owned by another human being, have no freedom. Like a dog, a slave is unable to exercise any degree of physical or mental freedom.”

Itsurō Sakisaka (1897–1985) Japanese economist

Exploitation of Labor (1967)

Mahatma Gandhi photo

“There is no such thing as slow freedom. Freedom is like a birth. Till we are fully free we are slaves.”

Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) pre-eminent leader of Indian nationalism during British-ruled India

Young India (15 December 1921)
1920s

Seneca the Younger photo

“So near at hand is freedom, and is anyone still a slave?”

Seneca the Younger book Epistulae morales ad Lucilium

Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter LXXVII: On Taking One’s Own Life

Vladimir Lenin photo

“Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in the ancient Greek republics: freedom for the slave-owners.”

Vladimir Lenin book The State and Revolution

Source: The State and Revolution (1917), Ch. 5.

Andrzej Majewski photo

“A slave dreams of freedom, a free man dreams of wealth, the wealthy dream of power, and the powerful dream of freedom.”

Andrzej Majewski (1966) Polish writer and photographer

Niewolnik marzy o wolności, człowiek wolny o bogactwie, bogacz o władzy, a władca o wolności.
Aphorisms. Magnum in Parvo (2000)

Khushwant Singh photo

“Freedom is for the educated people who fought for it. We were slaves of the English, now we will be slaves of the educated Indians—or the Pakistanis.”

Khushwant Singh Train to Pakistan

Source: Train to Pakistan

Vladimir Lenin photo

“Nobody is to be blamed for being born a slave; but a slave who not only eschews a striving for freedom but justifies and eulogies his slavery”

Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) Russian politician, led the October Revolution

The War and Russian Social-Democracy (September 1917), The Lenin Anthology
1910s
Context: Nobody is to be blamed for being born a slave; but a slave who not only eschews a striving for freedom but justifies and eulogies his slavery (e. g., calls the throttling of Poland and the Ukraine, etc., a "defense of the fatherland" of the Great Russians") - such a slave is a lickspittle and a boor, who arouses a legitimate feeling of indignation, contempt, and loathing.

Related topics