--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the process of helping some (perhaps…" description: "\"In the process of helping some (perhaps most) people to more utility and justice, the state imposes on civil society a system of interdictions and comm..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be8/anthony-de-jasay-57156_civil-society_in-the-process-of-helping-some-perhaps-m_2930027.jpg" --- # In the process of helping some (perhaps most) people to… ![“In the process of helping some (perhaps most) people to more utility and justice, the state imposes on civil society a system of interdictions and commands.” quote by Anthony de Jasay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be8/anthony-de-jasay-57156_civil-society_in-the-process-of-helping-some-perhaps-m_2930027.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be8/anthony-de-jasay-57156_civil-society_in-the-process-of-helping-some-perhaps-m_2930027.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be8/anthony-de-jasay-57156_civil-society_in-the-process-of-helping-some-perhaps-m_2930027.jpg) > “In the process of helping some (perhaps most) people to more utility and justice, the state imposes on civil society a system of interdictions and commands.” [Anthony de Jasay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-de-jasay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. State interventions impose restrictions on civil society, limiting freedom while claiming to increase utility and justice. **In simple terms:** Government rules can hinder freedom. Key Takeaway Critically assess state mandates. Themes politics freedom justice Mood skeptical analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - policy debates - community organizing Key Concepts state power civil society interdiction Questions to Reflect On - When do state actions truly benefit society? - How can citizens balance utility and liberty? A Different Perspective Overgeneralizes state role. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civil society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-society/) [Command](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/command/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Helping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helping/) [Helping people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helping-people/) [Imposes Civil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imposes-civil-4313544/) [Interdiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interdiction-93389/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) [Society Interdictions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-interdictions-4313543/) [State Imposes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/state-imposes-2436416/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Utility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utility/) ## Related quotes > [If we simply follow the rules that a state imposes upon us when that state is acting contrary to the public interest, we're not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/if-we-simply-follow-the-rules-that-a-state-imposes-upon-us-when-that/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [When the state imposes the death penalty, it proclaims that taking one human life counterbalances the taking of another life. 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They created a Twelve Mile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-haigh/when-the-government-promptly-changed-the-range-of-interdiction-to/) [Ted Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-haigh/) > [First, if it is true that a spatial order organizes an ensemble of possibilities (e.g., by a place in which one can move) and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-certeau/first-if-it-is-true-that-a-spatial-order-organizes-an-ensemble-of/) [Michel de Certeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-certeau/) > [In the domain of cops and robbers, an interdiction serves to structure a black market and a shadow economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-irwin-thompson/in-the-domain-of-cops-and-robbers-an-interdiction-serves-to-structure/) [William Irwin Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-irwin-thompson/) > [“In Hobbes’ state of nature, when a male individual conquers (contracts with) a female individual he becomes her sexual master and she becomes his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carole-pateman/in-hobbes-state-of-nature-when-a-male-individual-conquers-contracts/) [Carole Pateman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carole-pateman/) > [ \[T\]here are, at bottom, basically two ways to order social affairs, Coercively, through the mechanisms of the state - what we can call political… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-crane/t-here-are-at-bottom-basically-two-ways-to-order-social-affairs/) [Ed Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-crane/) > [Even if a civil society were to be dissolved by the consent of all its members (e.g., if a people inhabiting an island decided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/even-if-a-civil-society-were-to-be-dissolved-by-the-consent-of-all/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [The first person who, having enclosed a plot of land, took it into his head to say this is mine and found people simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-first-person-who-having-enclosed-a-plot-of-land-took-it-into-his/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/) [Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/) ## More by Anthony de Jasay > [ Having gathered all power to itself, \[the State\] has become the sole focus of all conflict, and it must construct totalitarian defences to match… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-de-jasay/having-gathered-all-power-to-itself-the-state-has-become-the-sole/) [Anthony de Jasay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-de-jasay/) > [... the smaller the domain where choices among alternatives are made collectively, the smaller will be the probability that any individual's preference gets overruled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-de-jasay/the-smaller-the-domain-where-choices-among-alternatives-are-made/) [Anthony de Jasay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-de-jasay/) > [People who live in states have as a rule never experienced the state of nature and vice-versa, and have no practical possibility of moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-de-jasay/people-who-live-in-states-have-as-a-rule-never-experienced-the-state/) [Anthony de Jasay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-de-jasay/) > [Karl Popper once advised a student that if he wanted to reap intellectual fame, he should write endless pages of obscure, high-flown prose that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-de-jasay/karl-popper-once-advised-a-student-that-if-he-wanted-to-reap/) [Anthony de Jasay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-de-jasay/) > [Self-imposed limits on sovereign power can disarm mistrust, but provide no guarantee of liberty and property beyond those afforded by the balance between state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-de-jasay/self-imposed-limits-on-sovereign-power-can-disarm-mistrust-but/) [Anthony de Jasay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-de-jasay/) [Explore all 6 Anthony de Jasay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-de-jasay/) ## More Civil society quotes > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/) [Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/) > [The first person who, having enclosed a plot of land, took it into his head to say this is mine and found people simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-first-person-who-having-enclosed-a-plot-of-land-took-it-into-his/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [Even if a civil society were to be dissolved by the consent of all its members (e.g., if a people inhabiting an island decided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/even-if-a-civil-society-were-to-be-dissolved-by-the-consent-of-all/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [ \[T\]here are, at bottom, basically two ways to order social affairs, Coercively, through the mechanisms of the state - what we can call political… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-crane/t-here-are-at-bottom-basically-two-ways-to-order-social-affairs/) [Ed Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-crane/) > [“In Hobbes’ state of nature, when a male individual conquers (contracts with) a female individual he becomes her sexual master and she becomes his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carole-pateman/in-hobbes-state-of-nature-when-a-male-individual-conquers-contracts/) [Carole Pateman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carole-pateman/) > [“SHOW THE WORLD YOUR STRONG COMPASSION: GIVE YOUR VOICE TO VOICELESS YAZIDI GIRLS!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/widad-akrawi/show-the-world-your-strong-compassion-give-your-voice-to-voiceless/) [Widad Akrawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/widad-akrawi/) > [For achieving good governance political will is necessary. 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It is an avowed and essential object of the American Union.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/security-against-foreign-danger-is-one-of-the-primitive-objects-of/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [“Everybody is satisfied, that a conservation and secure enjoyment of our natural rights is the great and ultimate purpose of civil society; and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/everybody-is-satisfied-that-a-conservation-and-secure-enjoyment-of/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“The state of civil society, which necessarily generates this aristocracy, is a state of nature; and much more truly so than a savage and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-state-of-civil-society-which-necessarily-generates-this/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Every government has signed up to a voluntary legal commitment under at least one of the international covenants and conventions based on the Universal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-robinson/every-government-has-signed-up-to-a-voluntary-legal-commitment-under/) [Mary Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-robinson/) [Browse all 322 Civil society quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-society/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the process of helping some (perhaps most) people to more utility and justice, the state imposes on civil society a system of interdictions and commands.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anthony de Jasay" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-de-jasay/in-the-process-of-helping-some-perhaps-most-people-to-more-utility/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civil society" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-de-jasay/in-the-process-of-helping-some-perhaps-most-people-to-more-utility/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be8/anthony-de-jasay-57156_civil-society_in-the-process-of-helping-some-perhaps-m_2930027.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be8/anthony-de-jasay-57156_civil-society_in-the-process-of-helping-some-perhaps-m_2930027.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be8/anthony-de-jasay-57156_civil-society_in-the-process-of-helping-some-perhaps-m_2930027.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the process of helping some (perhaps most) people to more utility and justice, the state imposes on civil…” — Anthony de Jasay", "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": "Anthony de Jasay", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-de-jasay/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In the process of helping some...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-de-jasay/in-the-process-of-helping-some-perhaps-most-people-to-more-utility/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-de-jasay/in-the-process-of-helping-some-perhaps-most-people-to-more-utility/#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 } } ] } ```