--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You can never enslave somebody who knows…" description: "\"You can never enslave somebody who knows who he is.\" — Alex Haley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/494/alex-haley-8212_enslave_you-can-never-enslave-somebody-who-knows_2304359.jpg" --- # You can never enslave somebody who knows who he is. ![“You can never enslave somebody who knows who he is.” quote by Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/494/alex-haley-8212_enslave_you-can-never-enslave-somebody-who-knows_2304359.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/494/alex-haley-8212_enslave_you-can-never-enslave-somebody-who-knows_2304359.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/494/alex-haley-8212_enslave_you-can-never-enslave-somebody-who-knows_2304359.jpg) > “You can never enslave somebody who knows who he is.” [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Self‑knowledge prevents others from controlling you. **In simple terms:** Knowing yourself thwarts oppression. Key Takeaway Know yourself to stay free. Themes identity freedom self‑awareness Mood reflective empowering Type philosophical political When to use this quote - authoritarian regimes - personal relationships - social movements Key Concepts Existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does self‑knowledge mean to you? - How can you protect yourself if you know who you are? A Different Perspective Self‑knowledge may not protect against external forces. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Self esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-esteem/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [“That seems to show that somebody knows more than we do upon the moor”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/that-seems-to-show-that-somebody-knows-more-than-we-do-upon-the-moor/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [It's because somebody knows something about it that we can't talk about physics. It's the things that nobody knows anything about we can discuss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-p-feynman/it-s-because-somebody-knows-something-about-it-that-we-can-t-talk/) [Richard P. Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-p-feynman/) > [“She knew better than to waste that time. There isn't always someone who wants you singing to him or nibbling his ear or brushing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/she-knew-better-than-to-waste-that-time-there-isn-t-always-someone/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [A FRIEND IS SOMEBODY THAT KNOWS ALL ABOUT YOU AND STILL LOVES YOU.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-friend-is-somebody-that-knows-all-about-you-and-still-loves-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Can you still have any famous last words if you're somebody nobody knows?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-adams/can-you-still-have-any-famous-last-words-if-you-re-somebody-nobody/) [Ryan Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-adams/) > [That's what a god is. Somebody who knows more than you do about whatever you're dealing with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/that-s-what-a-god-is-somebody-who-knows-more-than-you-do-about/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [You can't do an impersonation of somebody nobody knows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ice-t/you-can-t-do-an-impersonation-of-somebody-nobody-knows/) [Ice T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ice-t/) > [I have a feeling that inside you somewhere,there's somebody nobody knows about](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-a-feeling-that-inside-you-somewhere-there-s-somebody-nobody/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I know what you're doing, though." "I'm glad somebody knows what I'm about, because I seem to have lost my own grasp of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-burrowes/i-know-what-you-re-doing-though-i-m-glad-somebody-knows-what-i-m/) [Grace Burrowes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-burrowes/) > [I don't know, maybe I made it up. Anyway, it's an arbo-tree-ist, somebody who knows about trees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-don-t-know-maybe-i-made-it-up-anyway-it-s-an-arbo-tree-ist-somebody/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [“To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them." -George Mason - Father of the Bill of Rights”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-goodwin/to-disarm-the-people-is-the-best-and-most-effectual-way-to-enslave/) [Mark Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-goodwin/) > [“Society always tries to enslave, imprison, and execute its greatest men, those who dare to stand apart and rise above.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-torode/society-always-tries-to-enslave-imprison-and-execute-its-greatest-men/) [Sam Torode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-torode/) > [Why not exploit, enslave, or exterminate a class that everybody is taught to regard as inferior?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-g-woodson/why-not-exploit-enslave-or-exterminate-a-class-that-everybody-is/) [Carter G. Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-g-woodson/) > [A man who will enslave his own blood, may not be safely relied on for magnamity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/a-man-who-will-enslave-his-own-blood-may-not-be-safely-relied-on-for/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [The greatest of all crimes are the wars that are carried on by governments, to plunder, enslave, and destroy mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysander-spooner/the-greatest-of-all-crimes-are-the-wars-that-are-carried-on-by/) [Lysander Spooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysander-spooner/) ## More by Alex Haley > [I tell younger writers that indeed it is devastating to be rejected. You feel like the bottom dropped out of your world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-tell-younger-writers-that-indeed-it-is-devastating-to-be-rejected/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [If you're blessed to do something like 'Roots'... you find yourself immersed. You're asked to do this, to do that - all for admirable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/if-you-re-blessed-to-do-something-like-roots-you-find-yourself/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [I think from what I personally know, I am really quite proud of most of the people I know who have 'made it,' who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-think-from-what-i-personally-know-i-am-really-quite-proud-of-most/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [In the bush, trust no one you don't know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/in-the-bush-trust-no-one-you-don-t-know/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/either-you-deal-with-what-is-the-reality-or-you-can-be-sure-that-the/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [I know Juffure was a British trading post and my portrait of the village bears no resemblance to the way it was. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-know-juffure-was-a-british-trading-post-and-my-portrait-of-the/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [I look at my books the way parents look at their children. The fact that one becomes more successful than the others doesn't make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-look-at-my-books-the-way-parents-look-at-their-children-the-fact/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [Never completely encircle your enemy. Leave him some escape, for he will fight even more desperately if trapped.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/never-completely-encircle-your-enemy-leave-him-some-escape-for-he/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [I can't feel Irish to save my soul, but it's a fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-can-t-feel-irish-to-save-my-soul-but-it-s-a-fact/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [Most of the people I've met who are black in other countries look up to the blacks in this country. Though they may talk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/most-of-the-people-i-ve-met-who-are-black-in-other-countries-look-up/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [Early in the spring of 1750, in the village of Juffure, four days upriver from the coast of The Gambia, West Africa, a manchild…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/early-in-the-spring-of-1750-in-the-village-of-juffure-four-days/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [“nightly boiling and then cooling a broth of freshly pounded fudano leaves in which she soaked her feat -and the pale palms of her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/nightly-boiling-and-then-cooling-a-broth-of-freshly-pounded-fudano/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [In all of us there is a hunger, marrow-deep, to know our heritage, to know who we are and where we came from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/in-all-of-us-there-is-a-hunger-marrow-deep-to-know-our-heritage-to/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [If you think about it, there's not a religious group, there's not a nationalistic group, there's not a tribe, there is no grouping of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/if-you-think-about-it-there-s-not-a-religious-group-there-s-not-a/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [Is this how you repay my goodness--with badness?” cried the boy. “Of course,” said the crocodile out of the corner of his mouth. “That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/is-this-how-you-repay-my-goodness-with-badness-cried-the-boy-of/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) [Explore all 83 Alex Haley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) ## More Enslave quotes > [The greatest of all crimes are the wars that are carried on by governments, to plunder, enslave, and destroy mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysander-spooner/the-greatest-of-all-crimes-are-the-wars-that-are-carried-on-by/) [Lysander Spooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysander-spooner/) > [A man who will enslave his own blood, may not be safely relied on for magnamity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/a-man-who-will-enslave-his-own-blood-may-not-be-safely-relied-on-for/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [Why not exploit, enslave, or exterminate a class that everybody is taught to regard as inferior?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-g-woodson/why-not-exploit-enslave-or-exterminate-a-class-that-everybody-is/) [Carter G. Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-g-woodson/) > [“Society always tries to enslave, imprison, and execute its greatest men, those who dare to stand apart and rise above.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-torode/society-always-tries-to-enslave-imprison-and-execute-its-greatest-men/) [Sam Torode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-torode/) > [“To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them." -George Mason - Father of the Bill of Rights”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-goodwin/to-disarm-the-people-is-the-best-and-most-effectual-way-to-enslave/) [Mark Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-goodwin/) > [Some people steal from others, or defraud them, or enslave them, seizing their product and preventing them from living as they choose, or forcibly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-nozick/some-people-steal-from-others-or-defraud-them-or-enslave-them-seizing/) [Robert Nozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-nozick/) > [The Hebrew scriptures say it's okay to enslave anybody except your fellow Jews. It says you should enslave only your neighbors. I say to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shelby-spong/the-hebrew-scriptures-say-it-s-okay-to-enslave-anybody-except-your/) [John Shelby Spong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shelby-spong/) > [They wanna hang us, see us dead, or enslave us, keep us trapped in the same place we raised in. Then they wonder why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-dre/they-wanna-hang-us-see-us-dead-or-enslave-us-keep-us-trapped-in-the/) [Dr. Dre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-dre/) > [“To disarm the people--that was the best and most effective way to enslave them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mason/to-disarm-the-people-that-was-the-best-and-most-effective-way-to/) [George Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mason/) > [Give. Giving affirms Christ's lordship. It dethrones me and exalts Him. It breaks the chains of mammon that would enslave me and transfers my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-alcorn/give-giving-affirms-christ-s-lordship-it-dethrones-me-and-exalts-him/) [Randy Alcorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-alcorn/) > [They enslave their children's children who make compromise with sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/they-enslave-their-children-s-children-who-make-compromise-with-sin/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [The Grecians and Romans were strongly possessed of the spirit of liberty but not the principle, for at the time they were determined not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-grecians-and-romans-were-strongly-possessed-of-the-spirit-of/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“But if you want to truly enslave someone, there is something even more powerful than fear, and that is hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-thorn/but-if-you-want-to-truly-enslave-someone-there-is-something-even-more/) [J. Thorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-thorn/) > [Dictators free themselves, but they enslave the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-chaplin/dictators-free-themselves-but-they-enslave-the-people/) [Charlie Chaplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-chaplin/) > [“There is no such thing as "the right to enslave".A nation can do it , just as a man can become a criminal -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-is-no-such-thing-as-the-right-to-enslave-a-nation-can-do-it/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) Browse all 116 Enslave quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You can never enslave somebody who knows who he is.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alex Haley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/you-can-never-enslave-somebody-who-knows-who-he-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Enslave" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/you-can-never-enslave-somebody-who-knows-who-he-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/494/alex-haley-8212_enslave_you-can-never-enslave-somebody-who-knows_2304359.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/494/alex-haley-8212_enslave_you-can-never-enslave-somebody-who-knows_2304359.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/494/alex-haley-8212_enslave_you-can-never-enslave-somebody-who-knows_2304359.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You can never enslave somebody who knows who he is.” — Alex Haley", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alex Haley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You can never enslave somebody who...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/you-can-never-enslave-somebody-who-knows-who-he-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/you-can-never-enslave-somebody-who-knows-who-he-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```