--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The great moral question of the 21st…" description: "\"The great moral question of the 21st century is this: if all knowing, all culture, all art, all useful information can be costlessly given to everyone ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/eben-moglen-39549_21st-century_the-great-moral-question-of-the-21st-cen_783426.png" --- # The great moral question of the 21st century is this: if… ![“The great moral question of the 21st century is this: if all knowing, all culture, all art, all useful information can be costlessly given to everyone at the same price that it is given to anyone; if everyone can have everything, anywhere, all the time, why is it ever moral to exclude anyone?” quote by Eben Moglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/eben-moglen-39549_21st-century_the-great-moral-question-of-the-21st-cen_783426.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/eben-moglen-39549_21st-century_the-great-moral-question-of-the-21st-cen_783426.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/eben-moglen-39549_21st-century_the-great-moral-question-of-the-21st-cen_783426.png) > “The great moral question of the 21st century is this: if all knowing, all culture, all art, all useful information can be costlessly given to everyone at the same price that it is given to anyone; if everyone can have everything, anywhere, all the time, why is it ever moral to exclude anyone?” [Eben Moglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-moglen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If information is freely available to all, excluding anyone becomes ethically unjustified. **In simple terms:** Free access to knowledge should be universal. Key Takeaway Promote inclusive information access. Themes ethics information access equality Mood thoughtful ethical Type philosophical technological When to use this quote - policy making - education - technology deployment Key Concepts digital rights knowledge distribution Questions to Reflect On - How can we address digital divide challenges? - What responsibilities accompany free information? A Different Perspective Practical constraints may limit universal access. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Useful information](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/useful-information/) ## Related quotes > [The great moral question of the twenty-first century is this: if all knowledge, all culture, all art, all useful information can be costlessly given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-moglen/the-great-moral-question-of-the-twenty-first-century-is-this-if-all/) [Eben Moglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-moglen/) > [“We're moving towards such a strange time.A time when all our moral choices will be complicated and compromised by our love of progress”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-faber/we-re-moving-towards-such-a-strange-time-a-time-when-all-our-moral/) [Michel Faber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-faber/) > [Moral improvement (or perfecting) require an evolution leading to a higher consciousness, which is the true torch of life; it is what we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/african-spir/moral-improvement-or-perfecting-require-an-evolution-leading-to-a/) [African Spir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/african-spir/) > [It's important to show children love, affection and balance and invest time in their moral upbringing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-caudwell/it-s-important-to-show-children-love-affection-and-balance-and-invest/) [John Caudwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-caudwell/) > [The essential in this time of moral poverty is to create enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/the-essential-in-this-time-of-moral-poverty-is-to-create-enthusiasm/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“Finally, there came a time when everything that men had considered as inalienable became an object of exchange, of traffic and could be alienated.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/finally-there-came-a-time-when-everything-that-men-had-considered-as/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [There are books where you can really see the moral question, which I think we answer every day for ourselves, in every interaction we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bezmozgis/there-are-books-where-you-can-really-see-the-moral-question-which-i/) [David Bezmozgis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bezmozgis/) > [Let's at least acknowledge who is working in America right now and what our needs are, as well as the moral question of somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-bourdain/let-s-at-least-acknowledge-who-is-working-in-america-right-now-and/) [Anthony Bourdain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-bourdain/) > [Society cannot escape what is essentially a moral question: When does human life deserve legal protection from the state? And society certainly cannot escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blase-j-cupich/society-cannot-escape-what-is-essentially-a-moral-question-when-does/) [Blase J. Cupich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blase-j-cupich/) > [I think as a moral question, restaurant workers should get paid more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-bourdain/i-think-as-a-moral-question-restaurant-workers-should-get-paid-more/) [Anthony Bourdain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-bourdain/) > [“When morality is reduced to personal tastes, people exchange the moral question, What is good? for the pleasure question, What feels good?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-j-beckwith/when-morality-is-reduced-to-personal-tastes-people-exchange-the-moral/) [Francis J. Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-j-beckwith/) > [I believe that one basic question, what we ought to do, period (the moral question), is a genuine one. There exists a true answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torbjorn-tannsjo/i-believe-that-one-basic-question-what-we-ought-to-do-period-the/) [Torbjorn Tannsjo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torbjorn-tannsjo/) > [The trade of advertising is now so near to perfection that it is not easy to propose any improvement. But as every art ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-trade-of-advertising-is-now-so-near-to-perfection-that-it-is-not/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“If you do not have a moral question in your governing process, then you do not have a process that is going to survive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oren-lyons/if-you-do-not-have-a-moral-question-in-your-governing-process-then/) [Oren Lyons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oren-lyons/) > [Something that comes to us, some gym shoe that comes to us as a result of child labor from a brutal dictatorship, where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/something-that-comes-to-us-some-gym-shoe-that-comes-to-us-as-a-result/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) ## More by Eben Moglen > [If you're a capitalist and you have the best goods and they're free, you don't have to proselytize, you just have to wait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-moglen/if-you-re-a-capitalist-and-you-have-the-best-goods-and-they-re-free/) [Eben Moglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-moglen/) > [ As the commercial confrontation between \[free software\] and software-that's-a-product becomes more fierce, patent law's going to be the terrain on which a big piece… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-moglen/as-the-commercial-confrontation-between-free-software-and-software/) [Eben Moglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-moglen/) > [Can a one judge sitting somewhere in a trial court issue an order that says nobody in the world is allowed to have, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-moglen/can-a-one-judge-sitting-somewhere-in-a-trial-court-issue-an-order/) [Eben Moglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-moglen/) > [The more we give away, the richer we become.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-moglen/the-more-we-give-away-the-richer-we-become/) [Eben Moglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-moglen/) > [Everybody is connected to everybody else, all data that can be shared will be shared: get used to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-moglen/everybody-is-connected-to-everybody-else-all-data-that-can-be-shared/) [Eben Moglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-moglen/) > [The human race has susceptibility to harm but Mr. Zuckerberg has attained an unenviable record: he has done more harm to the human race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-moglen/the-human-race-has-susceptibility-to-harm-but-mr-zuckerberg-has/) [Eben Moglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-moglen/) > [The great moral question of the twenty-first century is this: if all knowledge, all culture, all art, all useful information can be costlessly given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-moglen/the-great-moral-question-of-the-twenty-first-century-is-this-if-all/) [Eben Moglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-moglen/) > [You could make a good case that the history of social life is about the history of the technology of memory. That social order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-moglen/you-could-make-a-good-case-that-the-history-of-social-life-is-about/) [Eben Moglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-moglen/) > [There is a First Amendment right to speak in a encrypted way… The right to speak P.G.P. is like the right to speak Navajo.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-moglen/there-is-a-first-amendment-right-to-speak-in-a-encrypted-way-the/) [Eben Moglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-moglen/) > [Those who want to share their code can make products and share their work without additional legal risks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-moglen/those-who-want-to-share-their-code-can-make-products-and-share-their/) [Eben Moglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-moglen/) [Explore all 11 Eben Moglen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-moglen/) ## More 21st century quotes > [The young people today are the 21st century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/the-young-people-today-are-the-21st-century/) [Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/) > [“You know it’s the 21st Century when someone TEXTS you from the washroom to ask you to bring them a roll of toilet paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/comic-strip-mama/you-know-it-s-the-21st-century-when-someone-texts-you-from-the/) Comic Strip Mama > [“I am made of a thousand ghosts. Only you can shoot me down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-james/i-am-made-of-a-thousand-ghosts-only-you-can-shoot-me-down/) Bella James > [Like many others, I have deep misgivings about the state of education in the United States. Too many of our students fail to graduate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/like-many-others-i-have-deep-misgivings-about-the-state-of-education/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Undeniably, character does count for our citizens, out communities, and our Nation, and this week we celebrate the importance of character in our individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/undeniably-character-does-count-for-our-citizens-out-communities-and/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [The hope of Internet anarchists was that repressive governments would have only two options: accept the Internet with its limitless possibilities of spreading information,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/the-hope-of-internet-anarchists-was-that-repressive-governments-would/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [Maybe we need a tax credit for the poorest Americans to buy a laptop. Now, maybe that's wrong, maybe that's expensive, maybe we can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newt-gingrich/maybe-we-need-a-tax-credit-for-the-poorest-americans-to-buy-a-laptop/) [Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newt-gingrich/) > [The 20th century has been marked by cynicism, selfishness, greed, and the desire to please, all without changing the status quo. In the 21st…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scar-arias/the-20th-century-has-been-marked-by-cynicism-selfishness-greed-and/) [Óscar Arias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scar-arias/) > [I firmly believe that the mission of religion in the 21st century must be to contribute concretely to the peaceful coexistence of humankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/i-firmly-believe-that-the-mission-of-religion-in-the-21st-century/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) > [Facebook, Twitter...Welcome to The 21st Century...Where Someone can stalk you without leaving the couch!..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/facebook-twitter-welcome-to-the-21st-century-where-someone-can-stalk/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Human Race is all over universe! And I am the first person to inform you. I am the most influential person of this decade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashwani-kumar-ojha/human-race-is-all-over-universe-and-i-am-the-first-person-to-inform/) [Ashwani Kumar Ojha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashwani-kumar-ojha/) > [Like the railroads that brought us together in the 19th century, these trails will bring us together in the 20th and 21st centuries. (at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/like-the-railroads-that-brought-us-together-in-the-19th-century-these/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [What I love about making albums in the 21st century is that so few people buy albums! I can make an album without any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/what-i-love-about-making-albums-in-the-21st-century-is-that-so-few/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) > [As a former Apollo astronaut, I think it's safe to say that SpaceX and the other commercial developers embody the 21st century version of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/as-a-former-apollo-astronaut-i-think-it-s-safe-to-say-that-spacex-and/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) > [The computer provides the only way to give students a real foundation in 21st-century skills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-negroponte/the-computer-provides-the-only-way-to-give-students-a-real-foundation/) [Nicholas Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-negroponte/) Browse all 771 21st century quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The great moral question of the 21st century is this: if all knowing, all culture, all art, all useful information can be costlessly given to everyone at the same price that it is given to anyone; if everyone can have everything, anywhere, all the time, why is it ever moral to exclude anyone?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eben Moglen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-moglen/the-great-moral-question-of-the-21st-century-is-this-if-all-knowing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "21st century" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-moglen/the-great-moral-question-of-the-21st-century-is-this-if-all-knowing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/eben-moglen-39549_21st-century_the-great-moral-question-of-the-21st-cen_783426.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/eben-moglen-39549_21st-century_the-great-moral-question-of-the-21st-cen_783426.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/eben-moglen-39549_21st-century_the-great-moral-question-of-the-21st-cen_783426.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The great moral question of the 21st century is this: if all knowing, all culture, all art, all useful…” — Eben Moglen", "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": "Eben Moglen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-moglen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The great moral question of the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-moglen/the-great-moral-question-of-the-21st-century-is-this-if-all-knowing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-moglen/the-great-moral-question-of-the-21st-century-is-this-if-all-knowing/#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 } } ] } ```