--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This, then, is the Anarchistic definition…" description: "\"This, then, is the Anarchistic definition of government: the subjection of the non-invasive individual to an external will...\" — Benjamin Tucker" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cde/benjamin-tucker-9951_anarchy_this-then-is-the-anarchistic-definition_394152.png" --- # This, then, is the Anarchistic definition of government… ![“This, then, is the Anarchistic definition of government: the subjection of the non-invasive individual to an external will...” quote by Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cde/benjamin-tucker-9951_anarchy_this-then-is-the-anarchistic-definition_394152.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cde/benjamin-tucker-9951_anarchy_this-then-is-the-anarchistic-definition_394152.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cde/benjamin-tucker-9951_anarchy_this-then-is-the-anarchistic-definition_394152.png) > “This, then, is the Anarchistic definition of government: the subjection of the non-invasive individual to an external will...” [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Government is defined as imposing external will on individuals who do not threaten others. **In simple terms:** Government forces non‑threatening people to obey others. Key Takeaway Question authority that violates personal freedom. Themes freedom authority individualism politics Mood critical reflective Type political philosophical When to use this quote - civil rights activism - community organizing - legal reform - personal boundaries Key Concepts anarchism social contract liberty Questions to Reflect On - When does personal liberty conflict with communal welfare? - Who decides what is “non‑invasive”? A Different Perspective It may overlook collective needs for public safety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anarchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchy/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Subjection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjection/) ## Related quotes > [And this is the Anarchistic definition of the State: the embodiment of the principle of invasion in an individual, or a band of individuals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/and-this-is-the-anarchistic-definition-of-the-state-the-embodiment-of/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [I think anarchy is natural to the Catholic. The Church is pretty anarchistic, you know. Who pays attention to the Pope or the Cardinals?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-day/i-think-anarchy-is-natural-to-the-catholic-the-church-is-pretty/) [Dorothy Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-day/) > [“The leather community is largely anarchistic and shares a healthy distrust of power and arrogance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoff-mains/the-leather-community-is-largely-anarchistic-and-shares-a-healthy/) Geoff Mains > [For me, the anarchy movement is hilarious. It's all under .org, which is of course government sponsored websites, and then they're all wearing corporate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lydon/for-me-the-anarchy-movement-is-hilarious-it-s-all-under-org-which-is/) [John Lydon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lydon/) > [Anarchism may be described as the doctrine that all the affairs of men should be managed by individuals or voluntary associations, and that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/anarchism-may-be-described-as-the-doctrine-that-all-the-affairs-of/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [The single definition of government I've ever seen that makes sense is that it's the organization which claims the right to kill people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/poul-anderson/the-single-definition-of-government-i-ve-ever-seen-that-makes-sense/) [Poul Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/poul-anderson/) > [If the majority is moral then why do they need to be ruled by a group of people who are power hungry and gun…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/if-the-majority-is-moral-then-why-do-they-need-to-be-ruled-by-a-group/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [Regardless of law, marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/regardless-of-law-marriage-has-only-one-definition-and-any-government-2/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [By definition, a government has no conscience. Sometimes it has a policy, but nothing more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/by-definition-a-government-has-no-conscience-sometimes-it-has-a/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [We do not support people who are anarchistic, opportunistic, adventuristic, and Custeristic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hampton/we-do-not-support-people-who-are-anarchistic-opportunistic/) [Fred Hampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hampton/) > [My politics were pretty anarchistic until 1969 when the Montreal police went on strike. Within hours, mayhem and rioting broke out and the Mounties…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/my-politics-were-pretty-anarchistic-until-1969-when-the-montreal/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [In fact I always disliked conceptual art, because my work is about anarchistic humor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-graham/in-fact-i-always-disliked-conceptual-art-because-my-work-is-about/) Dan Graham > [Only responsible human beings can exist in an anarchistic society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/only-responsible-human-beings-can-exist-in-an-anarchistic-society/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Culture is Anarchistic if it is alive at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siva-vaidhyanathan/culture-is-anarchistic-if-it-is-alive-at-all/) [Siva Vaidhyanathan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siva-vaidhyanathan/) > [In the 60s there were a lot of things which were anarchistic. May-June '68 was riddled by anarchistic sentiments, dreams and ideals, but insofar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/in-the-60s-there-were-a-lot-of-things-which-were-anarchistic-may-june/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) ## More by Benjamin Tucker > [The claim of the State Socialists, however, that this right would not be exercised in matters pertaining to the individual in the more intimate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/the-claim-of-the-state-socialists-however-that-this-right-would-not/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [The shortest way to change a radical into a conservative, a liberal into a tyrant, a man into a beast, is to give him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/the-shortest-way-to-change-a-radical-into-a-conservative-a-liberal/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [The Anarchists are simply unterrified Jeffersonian Democrats. They believe that 'the best government is that which governs least,' and that which governs least is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/the-anarchists-are-simply-unterrified-jeffersonian-democrats-they/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [Socialism, on the contrary, extends its function to the description of society as it should be, and the discovery of the means of making…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/socialism-on-the-contrary-extends-its-function-to-the-description-of/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [We are here, on earth. Not one of us has any right to the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/we-are-here-on-earth-not-one-of-us-has-any-right-to-the-earth/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [The cost of justice can be justly paid only by the invader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/the-cost-of-justice-can-be-justly-paid-only-by-the-invader/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [For, just as it has been said that there is no half-way house between Rome and Reason, so it may be said that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/for-just-as-it-has-been-said-that-there-is-no-half-way-house-between/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [Thus, the same blow that strikes interest down will send wages up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/thus-the-same-blow-that-strikes-interest-down-will-send-wages-up/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [There are some troubles from which mankind can never escape … have never claimed that liberty will bring perfection; they simply say that its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/there-are-some-troubles-from-which-mankind-can-never-escape-have/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [The government is a tyrant living by theft, and therefore has no business to engage in any business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/the-government-is-a-tyrant-living-by-theft-and-therefore-has-no/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [Capitalism is at least tolerable, which cannot be said of Socialism or Communism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/capitalism-is-at-least-tolerable-which-cannot-be-said-of-socialism-or/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [Therefore coercion of the non-invasive, when justifiable at all, is to be justified on the ground that it secures, not a minimum of '…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/therefore-coercion-of-the-non-invasive-when-justifiable-at-all-is-to/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [Laissez Faire was very good sauce for the goose, labor, but was very poor sauce for the gander, capital.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/laissez-faire-was-very-good-sauce-for-the-goose-labor-but-was-very/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [Anarchism is for liberty, and neither for nor against anything else. Anarchy is the mother of co-operation, yes, just as liberty is the mother…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/anarchism-is-for-liberty-and-neither-for-nor-against-anything-else/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [If I can go through life free and rich, I shall not cry because my neighbor, equally free, is richer. Liberty will ultimately make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/if-i-can-go-through-life-free-and-rich-i-shall-not-cry-because-my/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) [Explore all 69 Benjamin Tucker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) ## More Anarchy quotes > [I'm in a business where there's complete anarchy. You can't control it - you can only react to it. The control that people traditionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sorrell/i-m-in-a-business-where-there-s-complete-anarchy-you-can-t-control-it/) [Martin Sorrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-sorrell/) > [The "health, education, and welfare" section of government is another boondoggle. First we manufacture indigent and superfluous people by legal monopolies in land, money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurance-labadie/the-health-education-and-welfare-section-of-government-is-another/) [Laurance Labadie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurance-labadie/) > [The law is the collective organization of the individual's right to lawful defense of his life, liberty and property. When it is used for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-law-is-the-collective-organization-of-the-individual-s-right-to/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [So far I'm still standing on 'Sons of Anarchy' but all the rest of the people on the show have me in their crosshairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-pileggi/so-far-i-m-still-standing-on-sons-of-anarchy-but-all-the-rest-of-the/) Mitch Pileggi > [“Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science and Bad Religion in a World Without God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/anarchy-evolution-faith-science-and-bad-religion-in-a-world-without/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [Perhaps it is this theory of all work and no play that has made the Marxist such a very dull boy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-read/perhaps-it-is-this-theory-of-all-work-and-no-play-that-has-made-the/) [Herbert Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-read/) > [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/) > [In morals as in politics anarchy is not for the weak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/in-morals-as-in-politics-anarchy-is-not-for-the-weak/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [I think that if you run a big company, you've got to, four or five times a year, just say, 'Hey team, look, here's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-immelt/i-think-that-if-you-run-a-big-company-you-ve-got-to-four-or-five/) [Jeffrey R. Immelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-immelt/) > [Where you have no religion, you are sure to have no government, for as religion disappears, anarchy takes place and fixes a compleat Hell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-morgan/where-you-have-no-religion-you-are-sure-to-have-no-government-for-as/) [Daniel Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-morgan/) > [What a comfort it is to feel that amid the chaos and anarchy which sweep the surface, God is holding fast the foundations on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-b-meyer/what-a-comfort-it-is-to-feel-that-amid-the-chaos-and-anarchy-which/) [F.B. Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-b-meyer/) > [“An anarchist government somehow creates an impression in the hearts of citizens that no one cares.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/an-anarchist-government-somehow-creates-an-impression-in-the-hearts/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Would you like to do something good for the future of the human race; well, start killing some of its powerful members.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-brown/would-you-like-to-do-something-good-for-the-future-of-the-human-race/) [William C. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-brown/) > [“twenty-three years of RFRAs to produce anarchy,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corvino/twenty-three-years-of-rfras-to-produce-anarchy/) [John Corvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corvino/) > [Freedom is that faculty that enlarges the usefulness of all other faculties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/freedom-is-that-faculty-that-enlarges-the-usefulness-of-all-other/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) [Browse all 795 Anarchy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This, then, is the Anarchistic definition of government: the subjection of the non-invasive individual to an external will...", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Benjamin Tucker" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/this-then-is-the-anarchistic-definition-of-government-the-subjection/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anarchy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/this-then-is-the-anarchistic-definition-of-government-the-subjection/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cde/benjamin-tucker-9951_anarchy_this-then-is-the-anarchistic-definition_394152.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cde/benjamin-tucker-9951_anarchy_this-then-is-the-anarchistic-definition_394152.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cde/benjamin-tucker-9951_anarchy_this-then-is-the-anarchistic-definition_394152.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This, then, is the Anarchistic definition of government: the subjection of the non-invasive individual to an…” — Benjamin Tucker", "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": "Benjamin Tucker", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "This, then, is the Anarchistic definition...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/this-then-is-the-anarchistic-definition-of-government-the-subjection/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/this-then-is-the-anarchistic-definition-of-government-the-subjection/#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 } } ] } ```