--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The best slave does not need to be…" description: "\"The best slave does not need to be beaten. She beats herself.\" — Erica Jong" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fd/erica-jong-445_beaten_the-best-slave-does-not-need-to-be-beate_351521.jpg" --- # The best slave does not need to be beaten. She beats… ![“The best slave does not need to be beaten. She beats herself.” quote by Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fd/erica-jong-445_beaten_the-best-slave-does-not-need-to-be-beate_351521.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fd/erica-jong-445_beaten_the-best-slave-does-not-need-to-be-beate_351521.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fd/erica-jong-445_beaten_the-best-slave-does-not-need-to-be-beate_351521.jpg) > “The best slave does not need to be beaten. She beats herself.” [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Self-discipline replaces external oppression; internal control is more powerful than any external force. **In simple terms:** Self-control is stronger than external punishment. Key Takeaway Cultivate inner discipline. Themes self‑control autonomy power dynamics Mood reflective determined Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - habit formation - self‑improvement - mental health - addiction recovery Key Concepts psychology philosophy personal agency Questions to Reflect On - How do you enforce self‑discipline? - What internal habits replace external punishments? A Different Perspective Self‑control can be undermined by external pressures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) ## Related quotes > [The best slave is the one who thinks he is free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-best-slave-is-the-one-who-thinks-he-is-free/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“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/) > [“The free man does what he likes in his working time and in his spare time what is required of him. The slave does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-gill/the-free-man-does-what-he-likes-in-his-working-time-and-in-his-spare/) [Eric Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-gill/) > [“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 > [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/) > [“You hide it well, but I can see it, Lord Verniers. You hate us. We have beaten you to obedience but it's still there,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-ryan/you-hide-it-well-but-i-can-see-it-lord-verniers-you-hate-us-we-have/) [Anthony Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-ryan/) > [I'm a slave to the beats of the story, not to the words we use to tell the story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-dildarian/i-m-a-slave-to-the-beats-of-the-story-not-to-the-words-we-use-to-tell/) [Steve Dildarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-dildarian/) > [I know from my own clinical work that when people are beaten and hurt, they numb out so that they cant feel anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bradshaw/i-know-from-my-own-clinical-work-that-when-people-are-beaten-and-hurt/) [John Bradshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bradshaw/) > [Class clowns are never allowed to date anybody decent, but you don't get beaten up, you're invited to parties, and everybody likes you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-harmon/class-clowns-are-never-allowed-to-date-anybody-decent-but-you-don-t/) [Dan Harmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-harmon/) > [“I felt my heart skip a beat, just one, but it was enough that I took notice. It was nice to know that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-m-stunich/i-felt-my-heart-skip-a-beat-just-one-but-it-was-enough-that-i-took/) [C.M. Stunich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-m-stunich/) > [It's always a wake-up call to get beaten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/usain-bolt/it-s-always-a-wake-up-call-to-get-beaten/) [Usain Bolt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/usain-bolt/) > [It's kind of the yin and yang that fascinate me. That for all the evil men do, there are also people who work obnoxiously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-gardner/it-s-kind-of-the-yin-and-yang-that-fascinate-me-that-for-all-the-evil/) [Lisa Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-gardner/) > [I think children have talent and insight, but it gets beaten out of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-dove/i-think-children-have-talent-and-insight-but-it-gets-beaten-out-of/) [Rita Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-dove/) ## More by Erica Jong > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Will you ever? I dont think you will ever fully understand how you've touched my life and made me who I am.I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/will-you-ever-i-dont-think-you-will-ever-fully-understand-how-you-ve/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Give advice to your children while they're young enough to believe you know what you're talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/give-advice-to-your-children-while-they-re-young-enough-to-believe/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Perhaps all artists were, in a sense, housewives: tenders of the earth household.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/perhaps-all-artists-were-in-a-sense-housewives-tenders-of-the-earth/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I have lived my life according to this principle: If I'm afraid of it, then I must do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-have-lived-my-life-according-to-this-principle-if-i-m-afraid-of-it/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I thought to spend my declining years writing poetry and teaching - but that won't pay the Bergdorf's bill. I think I'll move to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-thought-to-spend-my-declining-years-writing-poetry-and-teaching-but/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“Naomi Wolf dares to explode the myth of 'victim feminism' and pleads for allowing women to be as full of good and bad desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/naomi-wolf-dares-to-explode-the-myth-of-victim-feminism-and-pleads/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I knew I was in England by the smell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-knew-i-was-in-england-by-the-smell/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [The Lives of Great Men are more oft' at variance with their profess'd Phillosophies than consistent with 'em.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/the-lives-of-great-men-are-more-oft-at-variance-with-their-profess-d/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Women's books are kind of discriminated against. If a man writes a book about his family stories, people think of it as literature. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/women-s-books-are-kind-of-discriminated-against-if-a-man-writes-a/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Many, many people have done a lot more sexual experimentation than I have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/many-many-people-have-done-a-lot-more-sexual-experimentation-than-i/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“Is life much too long for an immortal?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/is-life-much-too-long-for-an-immortal/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Don't ye know that ev'ry Soul on Earth feels itself to be an Orphan?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/don-t-ye-know-that-ev-ry-soul-on-earth-feels-itself-to-be-an-orphan/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Critics write out of intellectual exercise, not poets. Poets write straight from the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/critics-write-out-of-intellectual-exercise-not-poets-poets-write/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Once I worshipped Keats for dying young. Now I think it's braver to die old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/once-i-worshipped-keats-for-dying-young-now-i-think-it-s-braver-to/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) [Explore all 542 Erica Jong quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) ## More Beaten quotes > [I think children have talent and insight, but it gets beaten out of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-dove/i-think-children-have-talent-and-insight-but-it-gets-beaten-out-of/) [Rita Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-dove/) > [It's kind of the yin and yang that fascinate me. That for all the evil men do, there are also people who work obnoxiously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-gardner/it-s-kind-of-the-yin-and-yang-that-fascinate-me-that-for-all-the-evil/) [Lisa Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-gardner/) > [It's always a wake-up call to get beaten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/usain-bolt/it-s-always-a-wake-up-call-to-get-beaten/) [Usain Bolt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/usain-bolt/) > [“I felt my heart skip a beat, just one, but it was enough that I took notice. It was nice to know that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-m-stunich/i-felt-my-heart-skip-a-beat-just-one-but-it-was-enough-that-i-took/) [C.M. Stunich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-m-stunich/) > [Class clowns are never allowed to date anybody decent, but you don't get beaten up, you're invited to parties, and everybody likes you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-harmon/class-clowns-are-never-allowed-to-date-anybody-decent-but-you-don-t/) [Dan Harmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-harmon/) > [I know from my own clinical work that when people are beaten and hurt, they numb out so that they cant feel anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bradshaw/i-know-from-my-own-clinical-work-that-when-people-are-beaten-and-hurt/) [John Bradshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bradshaw/) > [You could be beaten down by anybody and by everybody and it doesn't matter what everybody else thinks it's how you see yourself and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-cuban/you-could-be-beaten-down-by-anybody-and-by-everybody-and-it-doesn-t/) [Mark Cuban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-cuban/) > [Could beauty be beaten out, O youth the cities have sent to strike at each other's strength, it is you who have kept her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/could-beauty-be-beaten-out-o-youth-the-cities-have-sent-to-strike-at/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [The midget, Bush, and that Rumsfeld deserve only to be beaten with shoes by freedom loving people everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-saeed-al-sahaf/the-midget-bush-and-that-rumsfeld-deserve-only-to-be-beaten-with/) [Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-saeed-al-sahaf/) > [Like with every form of cancer, early detection is what it is all about. I urge everyone to learn the facts about this condition.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-stewart/like-with-every-form-of-cancer-early-detection-is-what-it-is-all/) [Rod Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-stewart/) > [In our culture of constant access and nonstop media, nothing feels more like a curse from God than time in the wilderness. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-martin/in-our-culture-of-constant-access-and-nonstop-media-nothing-feels/) [Jonathan Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-martin/) > [A man who is determined never to move out of the beaten road cannot lose his way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/a-man-who-is-determined-never-to-move-out-of-the-beaten-road-cannot/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [I admit that I've been beaten up so many times in films, but we do not fake it - we actually have to fight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/min-sik-choi/i-admit-that-i-ve-been-beaten-up-so-many-times-in-films-but-we-do-not/) [Min-sik Choi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/min-sik-choi/) > [I do not approve of children being beaten. It is always a confession of failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-wentworth/i-do-not-approve-of-children-being-beaten-it-is-always-a-confession/) [Patricia Wentworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-wentworth/) > [If you can feel that staying human is worth while, even when it can't have any practical result whatsoever, you've beaten them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-can-feel-that-staying-human-is-worth-while-even-when-it-can-t/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) Browse all 665 Beaten quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The best slave does not need to be beaten. She beats herself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Erica Jong" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/the-best-slave-does-not-need-to-be-beaten-she-beats-herself/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beaten" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/the-best-slave-does-not-need-to-be-beaten-she-beats-herself/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fd/erica-jong-445_beaten_the-best-slave-does-not-need-to-be-beate_351521.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fd/erica-jong-445_beaten_the-best-slave-does-not-need-to-be-beate_351521.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fd/erica-jong-445_beaten_the-best-slave-does-not-need-to-be-beate_351521.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The best slave does not need to be beaten. She beats herself.” — Erica Jong", "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": "Erica Jong", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The best slave does not need...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/the-best-slave-does-not-need-to-be-beaten-she-beats-herself/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/the-best-slave-does-not-need-to-be-beaten-she-beats-herself/#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 } } ] } ```