--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The whole argument with the…" description: "\"The whole argument with the anti-suffragists, or even the critical suffragist man, is this: that you can govern human beings without their consent.\" — ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89e/emmeline-pankhurst-11541_argument_the-whole-argument-with-the-anti-suffrag_3124409.jpg" --- # The whole argument with the anti-suffragists, or even the… ![“The whole argument with the anti-suffragists, or even the critical suffragist man, is this: that you can govern human beings without their consent.” quote by Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89e/emmeline-pankhurst-11541_argument_the-whole-argument-with-the-anti-suffrag_3124409.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89e/emmeline-pankhurst-11541_argument_the-whole-argument-with-the-anti-suffrag_3124409.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89e/emmeline-pankhurst-11541_argument_the-whole-argument-with-the-anti-suffrag_3124409.jpg) > “The whole argument with the anti-suffragists, or even the critical suffragist man, is this: that you can govern human beings without their consent.” [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Governance without consent is impossible; even critics of suffrage recognize that people must have a say in their own rule. **In simple terms:** Governance needs consent from those governed. Key Takeaway Demand consent for governance. Themes politics rights consent democracy Mood determined urgent Type political activist When to use this quote - legislation - public debate - activism Key Concepts social contract political legitimacy Questions to Reflect On - How can societies ensure consent? - What mechanisms protect against non-consensual rule? A Different Perspective Consent may be ignored by authoritarian regimes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Argument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/argument/) [Consent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consent/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Suffragists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffragists/) ## Related quotes > [We woman suffragists have a great mission - the greatest mission the world has ever known. It is to free half the human race,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/we-woman-suffragists-have-a-great-mission-the-greatest-mission-the/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [I thought I had been a suffragist before I became a Poor Law Guardian, but now I began to think about the vote in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/i-thought-i-had-been-a-suffragist-before-i-became-a-poor-law-guardian/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [I would rather be a rebel than a slave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/i-would-rather-be-a-rebel-than-a-slave/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [Often I have heard the taunt that suffragists are women who have failed to find any normal outlet for their emotions, and are therefore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/often-i-have-heard-the-taunt-that-suffragists-are-women-who-have/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [I suppose I had always been an unconscious suffragist. With my temperament and my surroundings, I could scarcely have been otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/i-suppose-i-had-always-been-an-unconscious-suffragist-with-my/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [“We created order out of chaos. We made beauty and shaped history. We kept the magic of the realms safe in our grasp. 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Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [It's time for women to wake up, to use the power of the vote, to honor the suffragists who chained themselves to the White…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-m-kunin/it-s-time-for-women-to-wake-up-to-use-the-power-of-the-vote-to-honor/) [Madeleine M. Kunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-m-kunin/) > [American suffragist, speech "Is Woman Suffrage Progressing?" at Stockholm, Sweden Radicalism is a label that is always applied to people who are endeavoring to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-garvey/american-suffragist-speech-is-woman-suffrage-progressing-at-stockholm/) [Marcus Garvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-garvey/) > [It is unthinkable that a national government which represents women should ignore the issue of the right of all women to political freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-burns/it-is-unthinkable-that-a-national-government-which-represents-women/) Lucy Burns > [Do not think your single vote does not matter much. The rain that refreshes the parched ground is made up of single drops.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-sheppard/do-not-think-your-single-vote-does-not-matter-much-the-rain-that/) Kate Sheppard > [The anti-suffragist talk of sheltering women from the fierce storms of life is a lot of cant. I have no patience with it. These…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/the-anti-suffragist-talk-of-sheltering-women-from-the-fierce-storms/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [If, while I hear the wild shriek of the slave mother robbed of her little ones, I do not open my mouth, am I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-stone/if-while-i-hear-the-wild-shriek-of-the-slave-mother-robbed-of-her/) [Lucy Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-stone/) > [There is no power in the world like that of women ... this most potent constituency we seek to represent, and for their suffrages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-lawson/there-is-no-power-in-the-world-like-that-of-women-this-most-potent/) Louisa Lawson ## More by Emmeline Pankhurst > [...the Government must not think that they can stop this agitation. It will go on...We are here not because we are law-breakers; we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/the-government-must-not-think-that-they-can-stop-this-agitation-it/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [If it is right for men to fight for their freedom, and God knows what the human race would be like today if men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/if-it-is-right-for-men-to-fight-for-their-freedom-and-god-knows-what/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [Governments have always tried to crush reform movements, to destroy ideas, to kill the thing that cannot die. 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And so it happens in civil war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/when-you-have-warfare-things-happen-people-suffer-the-noncombatants/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [I would rather be a rebel than a slave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/i-would-rather-be-a-rebel-than-a-slave/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [There is something that Governments care for far more than human life, and that is the security of property, and so it is through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/there-is-something-that-governments-care-for-far-more-than-human-life/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [You have to make more noise than anybody else, you have to make yourself more obtrusive than anybody else, you have to fill all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/you-have-to-make-more-noise-than-anybody-else-you-have-to-make/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [Those men and women are fortunate who are born at a time when a great struggle for human freedom is in progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/those-men-and-women-are-fortunate-who-are-born-at-a-time-when-a-great/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [Often I have heard the taunt that suffragists are women who have failed to find any normal outlet for their emotions, and are therefore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/often-i-have-heard-the-taunt-that-suffragists-are-women-who-have/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [Those men and women are fortunate who are born at a time when a great struggle for human freedom is in progress. 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