--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No individual, by the very state of…" description: "\"“No individual, by the very state of existence, can avoid life as a form of servitude; it only remains for us to decide, deny, or remain oblivious to, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/carolyn-weber-36075_life_no-individual-by-the-very-state-of-exist_1157842.jpg" --- # No individual, by the very state of existence, can avoid… ![“No individual, by the very state of existence, can avoid life as a form of servitude; it only remains for us to decide, deny, or remain oblivious to, whom or what we serve.” quote by Carolyn Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/carolyn-weber-36075_life_no-individual-by-the-very-state-of-exist_1157842.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/carolyn-weber-36075_life_no-individual-by-the-very-state-of-exist_1157842.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/carolyn-weber-36075_life_no-individual-by-the-very-state-of-exist_1157842.jpg) > ““No individual, by the very state of existence, can avoid life as a form of servitude; it only remains for us to decide, deny, or remain oblivious to, whom or what we serve.”” [Carolyn Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-weber/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human existence inherently involves servitude; awareness allows choice to serve or reject. **In simple terms:** Life is servitude; we choose. Key Takeaway Choose conscious service. Themes philosophy freedom servitude Mood contemplative critical Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - politics - personal growth - spiritual practice Key Concepts existentialism agency Questions to Reflect On - What do you serve? - How to recognize servitude in daily life? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex power structures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Servitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/servitude/) ## Related quotes > [This is the pure form of servitude: to exist as an instrument.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/this-is-the-pure-form-of-servitude-to-exist-as-an-instrument/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [Taxation of private property, or the regulation of such property so as to reduce its value, can become in effect a form of servitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-levin/taxation-of-private-property-or-the-regulation-of-such-property-so-as/) [Mark Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-levin/) > [Change is one of the scariest things in the world and yet it is also one of those variables of human existence that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aberjhani/change-is-one-of-the-scariest-things-in-the-world-and-yet-it-is-also/) [Aberjhani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aberjhani/) > [Whereas, Slavery, throughout its entire existence in the United States is none other than a most barbarous, unprovoked, and unjustifiable War of one portion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-brown/whereas-slavery-throughout-its-entire-existence-in-the-united-states/) [John Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-brown/) > [ One has freedom as the principal means of action; the other has servitude. Their . . . paths \[are\] diverse; nevertheless, each seems called… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/one-has-freedom-as-the-principal-means-of-action-the-other-has/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [The will to domination is a ravenous beast. There are never enough warm bodies to satiate its monstrous hunger. Once alive, this beast grows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/the-will-to-domination-is-a-ravenous-beast-there-are-never-enough/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [“Enslavement to God signifies liberation from all other forms of servitude, and although modern man may think that he is liberated, he is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-w-flood/enslavement-to-god-signifies-liberation-from-all-other-forms-of/) Donald W. Flood > [God give you pardon from gratitude and other mild forms of servitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-creeley/god-give-you-pardon-from-gratitude-and-other-mild-forms-of-servitude/) [Robert Creeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-creeley/) > [“Your realm is an insane place. In Volaria, no-one goes hungry, slaves are no use when they starve. Those freeborn too lazy or lacking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-ryan/your-realm-is-an-insane-place-in-volaria-no-one-goes-hungry-slaves/) [Anthony Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-ryan/) > [There will be in the next generation or so a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude and producing dictatorship without tears, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/there-will-be-in-the-next-generation-or-so-a-pharmacological-method/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [As political and economic freedom diminishes, sexual freedom tends correspondingly to increase. And the dictator will do well to encourage that freedom...it will help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/as-political-and-economic-freedom-diminishes-sexual-freedom-tends/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [ The heart becomes sick, as the body becomes sick, and its remedy is al-Tawbah (repentance) and protection \[from transgression\]. It becomes rusty as a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-qayyim-al-jawziyya/the-heart-becomes-sick-as-the-body-becomes-sick-and-its-remedy-is-al/) [Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-qayyim-al-jawziyya/) > [Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/crouch-down-and-lick-the-hands-which-feed-you-may-your-chains-sit/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [This is servitude, To serve th'unwise, or him who hath rebelled Against his worthier, as thine now serve thee, Thyself not free, but to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/this-is-servitude-to-serve-th-unwise-or-him-who-hath-rebelled-against/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [My days – the blossom of my youth and the flower of my manhood – have been darkened by the dreariness of servitude. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-o-connell/my-days-the-blossom-of-my-youth-and-the-flower-of-my-manhood-have/) [Daniel O'Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-o-connell/) ## More by Carolyn Weber > [“To that point I had not realized that in doing something I love, and at which at times I may even excel, I felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-weber/to-that-point-i-had-not-realized-that-in-doing-something-i-love-and/) [Carolyn Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-weber/) > [“Looking at the parable of the poor widow who gave her last coins to the offering, I considered what it is to give God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-weber/looking-at-the-parable-of-the-poor-widow-who-gave-her-last-coins-to/) [Carolyn Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-weber/) > [ “\[My father\] was handsome and tanned and smelled wonderful, like a mix of the ocean and fresh-cut grass, except when he smoked his pipe,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-weber/my-father-was-handsome-and-tanned-and-smelled-wonderful-like-a-mix-of/) [Carolyn Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-weber/) > [“What if everything operates by love?' I said to her, 'I mean, what if this God presence . . . is God moving through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-weber/what-if-everything-operates-by-love-i-said-to-her-i-mean-what-if-this/) [Carolyn Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-weber/) > [“I think of how the world measures the depth of our giving by what we hand over, but Jesus measures it by what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-weber/i-think-of-how-the-world-measures-the-depth-of-our-giving-by-what-we/) [Carolyn Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-weber/) > [“Ahhh, teaching literature. A noble calling! For we are all stories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-weber/ahhh-teaching-literature-a-noble-calling-for-we-are-all-stories/) [Carolyn Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-weber/) > [“I found that those friends of mine who welcomed the unseen into the realm of their seen offered immediate understanding. Some are Christians, some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-weber/i-found-that-those-friends-of-mine-who-welcomed-the-unseen-into-the/) [Carolyn Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-weber/) > [“Dr. Deveaux stopped and looked at me hard. He leaned in and whispered, 'The rest is all bullshit, Miss Drake. It's as simple as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-weber/dr-deveaux-stopped-and-looked-at-me-hard-he-leaned-in-and-whispered/) [Carolyn Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-weber/) > [“I dozed, jolting occasionally at the driver's loud pronouncement of upcoming stops. At this early hour the bus hummed along quietly with few passengers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-weber/i-dozed-jolting-occasionally-at-the-driver-s-loud-pronouncement-of/) [Carolyn Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-weber/) > [“I realized that I was still caught on the ring road--on that, thank goodness, forgiving ring road--but that eventually, at some point, everyone needs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-weber/i-realized-that-i-was-still-caught-on-the-ring-road-on-that-thank/) [Carolyn Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-weber/) > [“He quickened his stride: 'The truth is in the paradox, Miss Drake. Anything not done in submission to God, anything not done to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-weber/he-quickened-his-stride-the-truth-is-in-the-paradox-miss-drake/) [Carolyn Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-weber/) > [“Trauma cracks us open (or for some of us, cuts us open) so the Holy Spirit can get in. So we can “right” ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-weber/trauma-cracks-us-open-or-for-some-of-us-cuts-us-open-so-the-holy/) [Carolyn Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-weber/) [Explore all 13 Carolyn Weber quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-weber/) ## More Existence quotes > [Getting on the cover of TIME guarantees the existence of opposition in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/getting-on-the-cover-of-time-guarantees-the-existence-of-opposition/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [It does not seem to me to be sufficiently recognized everywhere among the officials that the existence or non-existence of our people and Empire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-von-hindenburg/it-does-not-seem-to-me-to-be-sufficiently-recognized-everywhere-among/) [Paul von Hindenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-von-hindenburg/) > [Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/quantum-physics-fluctuates-all-the-time-but-now-the-fluctuations-are/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-have-a-fear-of-facing-ourselves-that-is-the-obstacle-experiencing/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/never-belong-to-a-crowd-never-belong-to-a-nation-never-belong-to-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Universities are the cathedrals of the modern age. They shouldn't have to justify their existence by utilitarian criteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lodge/universities-are-the-cathedrals-of-the-modern-age-they-shouldn-t-have/) [David Lodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lodge/) > [Just as everybody has the vote including women, I think children should, because as a child is conscious of itself then it has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/just-as-everybody-has-the-vote-including-women-i-think-children/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) [Browse all 7,646 Existence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“No individual, by the very state of existence, can avoid life as a form of servitude; it only remains for us to decide, deny, or remain oblivious to, whom or what we serve.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Carolyn Weber" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-weber/no-individual-by-the-very-state-of-existence-can-avoid-life-as-a-form/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Existence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-weber/no-individual-by-the-very-state-of-existence-can-avoid-life-as-a-form/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/carolyn-weber-36075_life_no-individual-by-the-very-state-of-exist_1157842.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/carolyn-weber-36075_life_no-individual-by-the-very-state-of-exist_1157842.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a3/carolyn-weber-36075_life_no-individual-by-the-very-state-of-exist_1157842.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No individual, by the very state of existence, can avoid life as a form of servitude; it only remains for us…” — Carolyn Weber", "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": "Carolyn Weber", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-weber/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“No individual, by the very state...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-weber/no-individual-by-the-very-state-of-existence-can-avoid-life-as-a-form/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-weber/no-individual-by-the-very-state-of-existence-can-avoid-life-as-a-form/#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 } } ] } ```