--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The free man does what he likes in his…" description: "\"“The free man does what he likes in his working time and in his spare time what is required of him. The slave does what he is obliged to do in his work..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/175/eric-gill-26720_free-man_the-free-man-does-what-he-likes-in-his-w_2650161.jpg" --- # The free man does what he likes in his working time and in… ![“The free man does what he likes in his working time and in his spare time what is required of him. The slave does what he is obliged to do in his working time and what he likes to do only when he is not at work.” quote by Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/175/eric-gill-26720_free-man_the-free-man-does-what-he-likes-in-his-w_2650161.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/175/eric-gill-26720_free-man_the-free-man-does-what-he-likes-in-his-w_2650161.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/175/eric-gill-26720_free-man_the-free-man-does-what-he-likes-in-his-w_2650161.jpg) > ““The free man does what he likes in his working time and in his spare time what is required of him. The slave does what he is obliged to do in his working time and what he likes to do only when he is not at work.”” [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Freedom allows personal choice at work and leisure; slavery restricts autonomy to work time only. **In simple terms:** Freedom vs. forced labor in work and leisure. Key Takeaway Seek autonomy in both work and free time. Themes freedom labor autonomy Mood thoughtful motivational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - employment contracts - volunteer work - personal projects Key Concepts existential choice social hierarchy Questions to Reflect On - What does true freedom look like for you? - How can you increase autonomy daily? A Different Perspective Societal structures may limit true freedom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Free man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-man/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Obliged Working](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obliged-working-2343443/) [Required Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/required-slave-2343442/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Slave Does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave-does-2343441/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [Spare time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spare-time/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [The best slave does not need to be beaten. She beats herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/the-best-slave-does-not-need-to-be-beaten-she-beats-herself/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“It is a mistaken opinion that prevails in some quarters that the slave does not understand the term - does not comprehend the idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-northup/it-is-a-mistaken-opinion-that-prevails-in-some-quarters-that-the/) [Solomon Northup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-northup/) > [“Henry,” Robbins said, looking not at him but out to the other side ofthe road, “the law will protect you as a master to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/henry-robbins-said-looking-not-at-him-but-out-to-the-other-side-ofthe/) [Edward P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-p-jones/) > [“I have also fantasised myself to be his female slave, but this does not suffice, for after all every woman can be the slave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-freiherr-von-krafft-ebing/i-have-also-fantasised-myself-to-be-his-female-slave-but-this-does/) [Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-freiherr-von-krafft-ebing/) > [There are cases where the slave does not know his servitude and where it is necessary to bring the seed of his liberation to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/there-are-cases-where-the-slave-does-not-know-his-servitude-and-where/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [He will always be a slave who does not know how to live upon a little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/he-will-always-be-a-slave-who-does-not-know-how-to-live-upon-a-little/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [That state is a state of slavery in which a man does what he likes to do in his spare time and in his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/that-state-is-a-state-of-slavery-in-which-a-man-does-what-he-likes-to/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [“I had rather starve to death here, being a free man, than to have plenty in slavery. I cannot be a slave any more,--nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-drew/i-had-rather-starve-to-death-here-being-a-free-man-than-to-have/) [Benjamin Drew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-drew/) > [The true savage is a slave, and is always talking about what he must do; the true civilised man is a free man, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-true-savage-is-a-slave-and-is-always-talking-about-what-he-must/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [I was born a slave, but nature gave me a soul of a free man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toussaint-louverture/i-was-born-a-slave-but-nature-gave-me-a-soul-of-a-free-man/) [Toussaint Louverture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toussaint-louverture/) > [I could, as a free man, look across the bay toward the Eastern Shore where I was born a slave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-could-as-a-free-man-look-across-the-bay-toward-the-eastern-shore/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I saw that the kingdom must be interior before it can be exterior, that it is a kingdom of ideas, and not one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-whitall-smith/i-saw-that-the-kingdom-must-be-interior-before-it-can-be-exterior/) [Hannah Whitall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-whitall-smith/) > [Freedom of mind is the real freedom. A person whose mind is not free though he may not be in chains, is a slave,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/freedom-of-mind-is-the-real-freedom-a-person-whose-mind-is-not-free/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I'd rather be a free man in my grave, than to live life as a puppet or a slave”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-cliff/i-d-rather-be-a-free-man-in-my-grave-than-to-live-life-as-a-puppet-or/) [Jimmy Cliff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-cliff/) > [It is Mind which determines the change of Society, and it was because the mind at work was a Catholic mind that the slave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/it-is-mind-which-determines-the-change-of-society-and-it-was-because/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) ## More by Eric Gill > [Continued experiment with dog today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/continued-experiment-with-dog-today/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [Without philosophy man cannot know what he makes; without religion he cannot know why.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/without-philosophy-man-cannot-know-what-he-makes-without-religion-he/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [Ultimately there is no happiness in a world in which things are not as good as they can be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/ultimately-there-is-no-happiness-in-a-world-in-which-things-are-not/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [The value of the creative faculty derives from the fact that faculty is the primary mark of man. To deprive man of its exercise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/the-value-of-the-creative-faculty-derives-from-the-fact-that-faculty/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [Man cannot live on the human plane, he must be either above or below it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/man-cannot-live-on-the-human-plane-he-must-be-either-above-or-below-it/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [Art itself has become an extraordinary thing - the activity of peculiar people - people who become more and more peculiar as their activity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/art-itself-has-become-an-extraordinary-thing-the-activity-of-peculiar/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [Culture is a sham if it is only a sort of Gothic front put on an iron building -- like Tower Bridge -- or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/culture-is-a-sham-if-it-is-only-a-sort-of-gothic-front-put-on-an-iron/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [There are now about as many different varieties of letters as there are different kinds of fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/there-are-now-about-as-many-different-varieties-of-letters-as-there/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [Writing is in fact an entirely outworn, decayed and corrupt convention whose chief & most conspicuous character is its monumental witness to the conservatism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/writing-is-in-fact-an-entirely-outworn-decayed-and-corrupt-convention/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [If you look after truth and goodness, beauty looks after herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/if-you-look-after-truth-and-goodness-beauty-looks-after-herself/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [“Look after goodness and truth, beauty will look after herself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/look-after-goodness-and-truth-beauty-will-look-after-herself/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [Legibility, in practice, amounts simply to what one is accustomed to. But this is not to say that because we have got used to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/legibility-in-practice-amounts-simply-to-what-one-is-accustomed-to/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [The artist is not a different kind of person, but every person is a different kind of artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/the-artist-is-not-a-different-kind-of-person-but-every-person-is-a/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [Science is analytical, descriptive, informative. Man does not live by bread alone, but by science he attempts to do so. Hence the deadliness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/science-is-analytical-descriptive-informative-man-does-not-live-by/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [Art is skill, that is the first meaning of the word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/art-is-skill-that-is-the-first-meaning-of-the-word/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) [Explore all 21 Eric Gill quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) ## More Free man quotes > [Never in all their history have men been able truly to conceive of the world as one: a single sphere, a globe, having the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/never-in-all-their-history-have-men-been-able-truly-to-conceive-of/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [“And it was then that the things I've never liked to talk about began. Not that they were particularly terrible; I've no wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-it-was-then-that-the-things-i-ve-never-liked-to-talk-about-began/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“He is a free man, not because is in a poition of political power and influence that you will never be able to achieve,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-meekins/he-is-a-free-man-not-because-is-in-a-poition-of-political-power-and/) [Evan Meekins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-meekins/) > [ The solution to this problem \[welfare-statism\] must take a positive form: the restoration of a faith in what free men can accomplish. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-read/the-solution-to-this-problem-welfare-statism-must-take-a-positive/) [Leonard Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-read/) > [“I was just beginning to wonder how long I would have to wait when finally a guard sauntered up and said, “Galloway, get your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-galloway/i-was-just-beginning-to-wonder-how-long-i-would-have-to-wait-when/) [Noah Galloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-galloway/) > [“A port arrival makes you feel so free ...To realize what it is to be a free man, with a world before him;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barnaby-allen/a-port-arrival-makes-you-feel-so-free-to-realize-what-it-is-to-be-a/) [Barnaby Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barnaby-allen/) > [It is Mind which determines the change of Society, and it was because the mind at work was a Catholic mind that the slave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/it-is-mind-which-determines-the-change-of-society-and-it-was-because/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [Let me be a free man - free to travel, free to stop, free to work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-joseph/let-me-be-a-free-man-free-to-travel-free-to-stop-free-to-work/) [Chief Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-joseph/) > [“I'd rather be a free man in my grave, than to live life as a puppet or a slave”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-cliff/i-d-rather-be-a-free-man-in-my-grave-than-to-live-life-as-a-puppet-or/) [Jimmy Cliff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-cliff/) > [No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/no-free-man-shall-ever-be-debarred-the-use-of-arms/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [A free man is he that, in those things which by his strength and wit he is able to do, is not hindered to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/a-free-man-is-he-that-in-those-things-which-by-his-strength-and-wit/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [The free man never thinks of escape.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/the-free-man-never-thinks-of-escape/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [Freedom of mind is the real freedom. A person whose mind is not free though he may not be in chains, is a slave,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/freedom-of-mind-is-the-real-freedom-a-person-whose-mind-is-not-free/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Very few of our race can be said to be yet finished men. We still carry sticking to us some remains of the preceding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/very-few-of-our-race-can-be-said-to-be-yet-finished-men-we-still/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I always felt the world cannot fall apart as long as free men see the rainbow, feel the rain and hear the laugh of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-capra/i-always-felt-the-world-cannot-fall-apart-as-long-as-free-men-see-the/) [Frank Capra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-capra/) [Browse all 412 Free man quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-man/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The free man does what he likes in his working time and in his spare time what is required of him. The slave does what he is obliged to do in his working time and what he likes to do only when he is not at work.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eric Gill" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/the-free-man-does-what-he-likes-in-his-working-time-and-in-his-spare/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Free man" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/the-free-man-does-what-he-likes-in-his-working-time-and-in-his-spare/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/175/eric-gill-26720_free-man_the-free-man-does-what-he-likes-in-his-w_2650161.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/175/eric-gill-26720_free-man_the-free-man-does-what-he-likes-in-his-w_2650161.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/175/eric-gill-26720_free-man_the-free-man-does-what-he-likes-in-his-w_2650161.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The free man does what he likes in his working time and in his spare time what is required of him. The slave…” — Eric Gill", "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": "Eric Gill", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The free man does what he...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/the-free-man-does-what-he-likes-in-his-working-time-and-in-his-spare/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/the-free-man-does-what-he-likes-in-his-working-time-and-in-his-spare/#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 } } ] } ```