---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We may indeed in counsel point to the…"
description: "\"We may indeed in counsel point to the higher road, but we cannot compel any free creature to walk upon it. That leadeth to tyranny, which disfigureth g..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/677/anonymous-1_creatures_we-may-indeed-in-counsel-point-to-the-hi_2576615.jpg"
---

#  We may indeed in counsel point to the higher road, but we…

![“We may indeed in counsel point to the higher road, but we cannot compel any free creature to walk upon it. That leadeth to tyranny, which disfigureth good and maketh it seem hateful.” quote by Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/677/anonymous-1_creatures_we-may-indeed-in-counsel-point-to-the-hi_2576615.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/677/anonymous-1_creatures_we-may-indeed-in-counsel-point-to-the-hi_2576615.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/677/anonymous-1_creatures_we-may-indeed-in-counsel-point-to-the-hi_2576615.jpg)

> “We may indeed in counsel point to the higher road, but we cannot compel any free creature to walk upon it. That leadeth to tyranny, which disfigureth good and maketh it seem hateful.”

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Attempting to force others onto a morally superior path can become oppressive, corrupting the good intention behind it.

**In simple terms:** Forcing good behavior can become tyranny.

Key Takeaway

Respect free choice when encouraging virtue.

Themes

ethics freedom authority

Mood

thoughtful serious

Type

philosophical ethical

When to use this quote

- leadership
- education
- policy making

Key Concepts

moral persuasion coercion

Questions to Reflect On

- When does guidance become coercion?
- How can we inspire without imposing?

A Different Perspective

Even well‑intentioned guidance can be perceived as control.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Tyranny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tyranny/)

## Related quotes

> [The word hateful could well be applied to the days of war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-word-hateful-could-well-be-applied-to-the-days-of-war/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I like Australia less and less. The hateful newness, the democratic conceit, every man a little pope of perfection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-like-australia-less-and-less-the-hateful-newness-the-democratic/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [You gotta look for the good in the bad the happy in your sad the gain in your pain and what makes you grateful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-gotta-look-for-the-good-in-the-bad-the-happy-in-your-sad-the-gain/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [If she could have died...if she could have disappeared forever...but the solid surface of things refused to dissolve around her, and her body, her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-she-could-have-died-if-she-could-have-disappeared-forever-but-the/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [A world so hateful some would rather die then be who they are](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-world-so-hateful-some-would-rather-die-then-be-who-they-are/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [In studying the history of the human mind one is impressed again and again by the fact that the growth of the mind is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-studying-the-history-of-the-human-mind-one-is-impressed-again-and-2/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [There's always going to be hateful people out there. Just remember to remain positive and true to what you want and believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-always-going-to-be-hateful-people-out-there-just-remember-to/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [There is no tyranny so hateful as a vulgar and anonymous tyranny. It is all-permeating, all-thwarting; it blasts every budding novelty and sprig of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/there-is-no-tyranny-so-hateful-as-a-vulgar-and-anonymous-tyranny-it/)

[George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/)

> [A world so hateful some would rather die than be who they really are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-world-so-hateful-some-would-rather-die-than-be-who-they-really-are/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Hateful day when I received life!' I exclaimed in agony. 'Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hateful-day-when-i-received-life-i-exclaimed-in-agony-accursed/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Living in a hateful world, sending me straight to Heaven that's how we roll.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/living-in-a-hateful-world-sending-me-straight-to-heaven-that-s-how-we/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“In reality, though, the first thing to ask of history is that it should point out to us the paths of liberty. The great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-reality-though-the-first-thing-to-ask-of-history-is-that-it-should/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The intensive and concerted effort to exclude references to religion or God from public places is an attack on our founding principles. It's an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-intensive-and-concerted-effort-to-exclude-references-to-religion/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny. It's the only one. It's based on thousands of years of human experience. There is nothing narrow about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/conservatism-is-the-antidote-to-tyranny-it-s-the-only-one-it-s-based/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [That humanity and sincerity which dispose men to resist injustice and tyranny render them unfit to cope with the cunning and power of those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-humanity-and-sincerity-which-dispose-men-to-resist-injustice-and/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

## More by Anonymous

> [And a tear rolled down her cheek, as she said goodbye; because she's walking away, and she's never looking back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-a-tear-rolled-down-her-cheek-as-she-said-goodbye-because-she-s/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Everyone needs someone to love, and I choose you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-needs-someone-to-love-and-i-choose-you/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Put on my J's and dance the whole night away Im naughty by nature like Im hip-hop hooray With my hands in the sky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/put-on-my-j-s-and-dance-the-whole-night-away-im-naughty-by-nature/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Me.. I have been through a lot, but I still manage to have a smile on my face. Im not worried about the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/me-i-have-been-through-a-lot-but-i-still-manage-to-have-a-smile-on-my/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Distance is a test of love. many will fail for those who can't withstand it, but for those who can, theres only one answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/distance-is-a-test-of-love-many-will-fail-for-those-who-can-t/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Im sorry I ever tried...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-sorry-i-ever-tried/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Being betrayed by the one you love is the worst feeling in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-betrayed-by-the-one-you-love-is-the-worst-feeling-in-the-world/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The only person I've ever purposely caused pain here is myself...By simply sharing, caring too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-person-i-ve-ever-purposely-caused-pain-here-is-myself-by/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“Start a business, not a startup”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/start-a-business-not-a-startup/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

[Explore all 162,899 Anonymous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

## More Creatures quotes

> [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/)

[Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/)

> [Almost everywhere we find . . . the use of various coercive measures, to rid ourselves as quickly as possible of the child withinus--i.e.,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-miller/almost-everywhere-we-find-the-use-of-various-coercive-measures-to-rid/)

[Alice Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-miller/)

> [We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-need-in-a-special-way-to-work-twice-as-hard-to-help-people/)

[Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/)

> [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/)

[Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/)

> [I could not have slept tonight if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-could-not-have-slept-tonight-if-i-had-left-that-helpless-little/)

[Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/)

> [No creature can attain a higher grade of nature without ceasing to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananda-coomaraswamy/no-creature-can-attain-a-higher-grade-of-nature-without-ceasing-to/)

[Ananda Coomaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananda-coomaraswamy/)

> [Most people are sensitized to animals through their cats and dogs, but for me it was a flounder. I used to go fishing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mathews/most-people-are-sensitized-to-animals-through-their-cats-and-dogs-but/)

[Dan Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mathews/)

> [...it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral. I have cross-examined these men, one of them a hard-headed countryman, one a farrier, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-was-a-huge-creature-luminous-ghastly-and-spectral-i-have-cross/)

[Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/)

> [How do we know that we have a right to kill creatures that we are so little above, as dogs, for our curiosity or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/how-do-we-know-that-we-have-a-right-to-kill-creatures-that-we-are-so/)

[Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/)

> [My dad's family were political and he was always a theatrical creature, whereas my mum is really musical and her father was the touring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-jones/my-dad-s-family-were-political-and-he-was-always-a-theatrical/)

[Grace Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-jones/)

> [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/)

[Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/)

> [What greater weakness can there be than not to know what is the source of one's being, of one's life, of one's senses, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/what-greater-weakness-can-there-be-than-not-to-know-what-is-the/)

[Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/)

> [The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-love-for-all-living-creatures-is-the-most-noble-attribute-of-man/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [Children are not a zoo of entertainingly exotic creatures, but an array of mirrors in which the human predicament leaps out at us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/children-are-not-a-zoo-of-entertainingly-exotic-creatures-but-an/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [When I was in my teens I had a series of intensely religious experiences. They deepened my sense of God as the creator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-had-a-series-of-intensely-religious/)

[Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/)

Browse all 3,703 Creatures quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "We may indeed in counsel point to the higher road, but we cannot compel any free creature to walk upon it. That leadeth to tyranny, which disfigureth good and maketh it seem hateful.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Anonymous"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-may-indeed-in-counsel-point-to-the-higher-road-but-we-cannot/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Creatures"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-may-indeed-in-counsel-point-to-the-higher-road-but-we-cannot/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/677/anonymous-1_creatures_we-may-indeed-in-counsel-point-to-the-hi_2576615.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/677/anonymous-1_creatures_we-may-indeed-in-counsel-point-to-the-hi_2576615.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/677/anonymous-1_creatures_we-may-indeed-in-counsel-point-to-the-hi_2576615.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“We may indeed in counsel point to the higher road, but we cannot compel any free creature to walk upon it…” — Anonymous",
                "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": "Anonymous",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "We may indeed in counsel point...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-may-indeed-in-counsel-point-to-the-higher-road-but-we-cannot/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-may-indeed-in-counsel-point-to-the-higher-road-but-we-cannot/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
