--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The mere word freedom is the only one…" description: "\"The mere word freedom is the only one that still excites me. I deem it capable of indefinitely sustaining the old human fanaticism. It doubtless satisf..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d58/andr-breton-2478_absolutes_the-mere-word-freedom-is-the-only-one-th_533071.jpg" --- # The mere word freedom is the only one that still excites… ![“The mere word freedom is the only one that still excites me. I deem it capable of indefinitely sustaining the old human fanaticism. It doubtless satisfies my only legitimate aspiration. Among all the many misfortunes to which we are heir, it is only fair to admit that we are allowed the greatest…” quote by Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d58/andr-breton-2478_absolutes_the-mere-word-freedom-is-the-only-one-th_533071.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d58/andr-breton-2478_absolutes_the-mere-word-freedom-is-the-only-one-th_533071.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d58/andr-breton-2478_absolutes_the-mere-word-freedom-is-the-only-one-th_533071.jpg) > “The mere word freedom is the only one that still excites me. I deem it capable of indefinitely sustaining the old human fanaticism. It doubtless satisfies my only legitimate aspiration. Among all the many misfortunes to which we are heir, it is only fair to admit that we are allowed the greatest degree of freedom of thought. It is up to us not to misuse it. To reduce the imagination to a state of slavery-even though it would mean the elimination of what is commonly called happiness-is to betray all sense of absolute justice within oneself.” [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Freedom of thought is the ultimate thrill, essential for sustaining human fanaticism; misusing it leads to intellectual slavery, betraying justice and happiness. **In simple terms:** Thought freedom fuels creativity and moral integrity. Key Takeaway Guard thought freedom against oppression. Themes freedom creativity justice humanism responsibility Mood reflective defiant philosophical Type manifesto philosophical When to use this quote - Political discourse - artistic creation - personal reflection - social critique Key Concepts Surrealist philosophy ethical autonomy intellectual liberty Questions to Reflect On - What responsibilities accompany unlimited thought freedom? - How can societies protect intellectual liberty? A Different Perspective Freedom can be co‑opted for manipulation or nihilism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) [Aspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aspiration/) [Fanaticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fanaticism/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Freedom of thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-of-thought/) [Heirs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heirs/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Misfortunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misfortunes/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) ## Related quotes > [To reduce the imagination to a state of slavery --even though it would mean the elimination of what is commonly called happiness --is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/to-reduce-the-imagination-to-a-state-of-slavery-even-though-it-would/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Heresy is another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [ \[Puggles\] "What population signs on willingly for slavery?" "You mean other than wives?" \[Glinda\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/puggles-what-population-signs-on-willingly-for-slavery-you-mean-other/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [Do not be deluded by the abstract word Freedom. Whose freedom? Not the freedom of one individual in relation to another, but freedom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/do-not-be-deluded-by-the-abstract-word-freedom-whose-freedom-not-the/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [Isn't it fascinating that Nazis always manage to adopt the word freedom?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/isn-t-it-fascinating-that-nazis-always-manage-to-adopt-the-word/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is not recognized in the full amplitude of the word that all freedom is essentially self-liberation - that I can have only so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/it-is-not-recognized-in-the-full-amplitude-of-the-word-that-all/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [I think that growing up in a crowded continent like Europe with an awful lot of competing claims, ideas, cultures, and systems of thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/i-think-that-growing-up-in-a-crowded-continent-like-europe-with-an/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [If you're not ready to die for it, put the word 'freedom' out of your vocabulary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/if-you-re-not-ready-to-die-for-it-put-the-word-freedom-out-of-your/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [“Forgiveness is really just another word for freedom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-lessman/forgiveness-is-really-just-another-word-for-freedom/) [Julie Lessman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-lessman/) > [Well, it's not really the right word, but freedom is kind of a hobby with me, and I have disposable income that I'll spend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/well-it-s-not-really-the-right-word-but-freedom-is-kind-of-a-hobby/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/all-the-great-things-are-simple-and-many-can-be-expressed-in-a-single/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [I do believe that freedom isn't free - but today the corporate and political right wing is trying to cheapen this truly American value.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-trumka/i-do-believe-that-freedom-isn-t-free-but-today-the-corporate-and/) [Richard Trumka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-trumka/) > [I say let's go back to a truer use of the word 'freedom.' Let's start with President Franklin Roosevelt's Four Freedoms: freedom of speech…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-trumka/i-say-let-s-go-back-to-a-truer-use-of-the-word-freedom-let-s-start/) [Richard Trumka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-trumka/) > [It’ll be the ballot or it’ll be the bullet. It’ll be liberty or it’ll be death. And if you’re not ready to pay that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/it-ll-be-the-ballot-or-it-ll-be-the-bullet-it-ll-be-liberty-or-it-ll/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) ## More by Andre Breton > [Of all the arts in which the wise excel, nature's chief masterpiece is writing well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/of-all-the-arts-in-which-the-wise-excel-nature-s-chief-masterpiece-is/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Under his (Marc Chagall, ed.) sole impulse metaphor made its triumphal entry into modern painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/under-his-marc-chagall-ed-sole-impulse-metaphor-made-its-triumphal/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes to express -- verbally, by means of the written word, or in any other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/psychic-automatism-in-its-pure-state-by-which-one-proposes-to-express/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [The art of Frida Kahlo is a ribbon around a bomb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/the-art-of-frida-kahlo-is-a-ribbon-around-a-bomb/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“Let us not mince words: The marvelous is always beautiful, anything marvelous is beauitful, in fact only the marvelous is beautiful”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/let-us-not-mince-words-the-marvelous-is-always-beautiful-anything/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“There has never been any forbidden fruit. Only temptation is divine. To feel the need to vary the object of this temptation, to replace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/there-has-never-been-any-forbidden-fruit-only-temptation-is-divine-to/) [André Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“It was really a star, a star you were heading toward. You can't fail to reach it. Hearing you speak, I felt that nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/it-was-really-a-star-a-star-you-were-heading-toward-you-can-t-fail-to/) [André Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“All my life my heart has yearned for a thing I cannot name.” andre breton”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/all-my-life-my-heart-has-yearned-for-a-thing-i-cannot-name-andre/) [andre breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“Unless you have been inside a sanitarium you do not know that madmen are made there, just as criminals are made in our reformatories.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/unless-you-have-been-inside-a-sanitarium-you-do-not-know-that-madmen/) [André Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [A game: say something. Close your eyes and say something. Anything, a number, a name. Like this (she closes her eyes): Two, two what?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/a-game-say-something-close-your-eyes-and-say-something-anything-a/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [...with the end of my breath, which is the beginning of yours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/with-the-end-of-my-breath-which-is-the-beginning-of-yours/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Past and future monopolize the poet’s sensory and intellectual faculties, detached from the immediate spectacle. These two philtres become utterly clear the moment one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/past-and-future-monopolize-the-poet-s-sensory-and-intellectual/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [If I place love above everything, it is because for me it is the most desperate, the most despairing state of affairs imaginable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/if-i-place-love-above-everything-it-is-because-for-me-it-is-the-most/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [I am the soul in limbo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/i-am-the-soul-in-limbo/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Surrealism will usher you into death, which is a secret society. It will glove your hand, burying therein the profound M with which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/surrealism-will-usher-you-into-death-which-is-a-secret-society-it/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) [Explore all 141 Andre Breton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) ## More Absolutes quotes > [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. But there is perfect injustice, and we know it when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/there-is-no-perfect-justice-just-as-there-is-no-absolute-in-ethics/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [ Their \[the U.S.’s\] defense budget in absolute figures is almost 25 times bigger than Russia’s. This is what in defense is referred to as… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/their-the-u-s-s-defense-budget-in-absolute-figures-is-almost-25-times/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Conservative political opinion in America cleaves to the tradition of the judge as passive interpreter, believing that his absolute loyalty to authoritative law is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/conservative-political-opinion-in-america-cleaves-to-the-tradition-of/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [So many times we come to Jesus in worship and ask Him for things that He already IS and has already done... What a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christy-nockels/so-many-times-we-come-to-jesus-in-worship-and-ask-him-for-things-that/) Christy Nockels > [Those are decisions only the Lord will make. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/those-are-decisions-only-the-lord-will-make-i-believe-the-love-of-god/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [“The Gods know what it is to be eternal, and they love to toy with mortals who use absolutes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/the-gods-know-what-it-is-to-be-eternal-and-they-love-to-toy-with/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [Anarchy is the stepping stone to absolute power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/anarchy-is-the-stepping-stone-to-absolute-power/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [I was asked the other day if I would be interested in the Nobel Prize, but I think that for me it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-was-asked-the-other-day-if-i-would-be-interested-in-the-nobel-prize/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [The only "definitive truth" for Buddhism is the absolute negation of any one truth as the Definitive Truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/the-only-definitive-truth-for-buddhism-is-the-absolute-negation-of/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [The nature of the Absolute is neither perceptible nor imperceptible; and with phenomena it is just the same. But to one who has discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huangbo-xiyun/the-nature-of-the-absolute-is-neither-perceptible-nor-imperceptible/) [Huangbo Xiyun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huangbo-xiyun/) > [Joining a company is an act that calls for absolute loyalty in big matters and little ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-watson/joining-a-company-is-an-act-that-calls-for-absolute-loyalty-in-big/) [Thomas Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-watson/) > [In fine, a life of good or evil, the hope of Heaven or the despair of Hell, Faustus stands as a reminder that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-fine-a-life-of-good-or-evil-the-hope-of-heaven-or-the-despair-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 2,016 Absolutes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The mere word freedom is the only one that still excites me. 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