--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When we were told that by freedom we…" description: "\"When we were told that by freedom we understood free enterprise, we did very little to dispel this monstrous falsehood. Wealth and economic well-being,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/hannah-arendt-610_assembly_when-we-were-told-that-by-freedom-we-und_1436203.jpg" --- # When we were told that by freedom we understood free… ![“When we were told that by freedom we understood free enterprise, we did very little to dispel this monstrous falsehood. Wealth and economic well-being, we have asserted, are the fruits of freedom, while we should have been the first to know that this kind of happiness has been an unmixed blessing…” quote by Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/hannah-arendt-610_assembly_when-we-were-told-that-by-freedom-we-und_1436203.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/hannah-arendt-610_assembly_when-we-were-told-that-by-freedom-we-und_1436203.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/hannah-arendt-610_assembly_when-we-were-told-that-by-freedom-we-und_1436203.jpg) > “When we were told that by freedom we understood free enterprise, we did very little to dispel this monstrous falsehood. Wealth and economic well-being, we have asserted, are the fruits of freedom, while we should have been the first to know that this kind of happiness has been an unmixed blessing only in this country, and it is a minor blessing compared with the truly political freedoms, such as freedom of speech and thought, of assembly and association, even under the best conditions.” [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Freedom is often mistaken for economic prosperity, but true liberty lies in political rights like speech and assembly **In simple terms:** People confuse wealth with freedom, ignoring core political liberties Key Takeaway Prioritize protecting political freedoms over equating wealth with liberty Themes freedom political rights wealth critique misconception Mood critical thought‑provoking Type philosophical political When to use this quote - policy debate - education reform - public discourse - activism Key Concepts liberalism civic responsibility economic myth Questions to Reflect On - How does conflating wealth with liberty affect society? - What steps protect safeguard political freedoms? A Different Perspective Economic success does not guarantee political freedom ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assembly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assembly/) [Association](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/association/) [Blessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blessing/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Conditions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conditions/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Economic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economic/) [Enterprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enterprise/) [Falsehood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falsehood/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Free enterprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-enterprise/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Freedom of assembly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-of-assembly/) [Freedom of speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-of-speech/) [Freedom Understood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-understood-1814391/) [Freedoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedoms/) [Freedoms Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedoms-freedom-1555940/) [Fruit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fruit/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Minors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minors/) [Monstrous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monstrous/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Political freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-freedom/) [Political Freedoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-freedoms-830063/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Should have](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should-have/) [Should have been](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should-have-been/) [Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech/) [Understood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understood/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) [Well being](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/well-being/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [I assume that our colleagues from both the United States and the European Union will proceed from current humanitarian law and ensure political freedoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/i-assume-that-our-colleagues-from-both-the-united-states-and-the/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [We're quite lucky that we've got political freedoms. We should be using them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-thomas/we-re-quite-lucky-that-we-ve-got-political-freedoms-we-should-be/) [Mark Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-thomas/) > [The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy. One's right to life, liberty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-h-jackson/the-very-purpose-of-a-bill-of-rights-was-to-withdraw-certain-subjects/) [Robert H. Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-h-jackson/) > [U.S. international and security policy ... has as its primary goal the preservationof what we might call the Fifth Freedom, understood crudely but with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/u-s-international-and-security-policy-has-as-its-primary-goal-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“Freedom can only be understood in the context of destiny, or those things which limit our freedom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-hoffman/freedom-can-only-be-understood-in-the-context-of-destiny-or-those/) [Louis Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-hoffman/) > [Even as economic and political freedoms have advanced enormously and generated huge benefits for humanity, they've also created a great deal of anxiety because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-stossel/even-as-economic-and-political-freedoms-have-advanced-enormously-and/) [Scott Stossel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-stossel/) > [Human rights, of course, must include the right to religious freedom, understood as the expression of a dimension that is at once individual and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/human-rights-of-course-must-include-the-right-to-religious-freedom/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [“In a fully developed bureaucracy there is nobody left with whom one can argue, to whom one can present grievances, on whom the pressures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/in-a-fully-developed-bureaucracy-there-is-nobody-left-with-whom-one/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [the greater the bureaucratization of public life, the greater will be the attraction of violence. In a fully developed bureaucracy there is nobody left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-greater-the-bureaucratization-of-public-life-the-greater-will-be/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Thought ... is still possible, and no doubt actual, wherever men live under the conditions of political freedom. Unfortunately ... no other human capacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/thought-is-still-possible-and-no-doubt-actual-wherever-men-live-under/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“The greater the bureaucratization of public life, the greater will be the attraction of violence. In a fully developed bureaucracy there is nobody left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-greater-the-bureaucratization-of-public-life-the-greater-will-be-2/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [In the U.S., the country that has always been lecturing the world about the value of freedoms - of freedom of speech, of everyone's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margarita-simonyan/in-the-u-s-the-country-that-has-always-been-lecturing-the-world-about/) [Margarita Simonyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margarita-simonyan/) > [“You have your soul—what Frankl called the last of the human freedoms, the freedom to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-lesser/you-have-your-soul-what-frankl-called-the-last-of-the-human-freedoms/) [Elizabeth Lesser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-lesser/) > [I say let's go back to a truer use of the word 'freedom.' Let's start with President Franklin Roosevelt's Four Freedoms: freedom of speech…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-trumka/i-say-let-s-go-back-to-a-truer-use-of-the-word-freedom-let-s-start/) [Richard Trumka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-trumka/) > [We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expressioneverywhere in the world. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt-2/we-look-forward-to-a-world-founded-upon-four-essential-human-freedoms/) [Franklin D Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt-2/) ## More by Hannah Arendt > [“It means, first, that everything that appears in public can be seen and heard by everybody and has the widest possible publicity. For us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/it-means-first-that-everything-that-appears-in-public-can-be-seen-and/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Without being forgiven, released from the consequences of what we have done, our capacity to act would, as it were, be confined to one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/without-being-forgiven-released-from-the-consequences-of-what-we-have/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [What really distinguishes this generation in all countries from earlier generations ... is its determination to act, its joy in action, the assurance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-really-distinguishes-this-generation-in-all-countries-from/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [The practice of violence, like all action, changes the world, but the most probable change is a more violent world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-practice-of-violence-like-all-action-changes-the-world-but-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“Nationalism always preserved this initial intimate loyalty to the government and never quite lost its function of preserving a precarious balance between nation and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/nationalism-always-preserved-this-initial-intimate-loyalty-to-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [There is all the difference in the world between the criminal's avoiding the public eye and the civil disobedience's taking the law into his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/there-is-all-the-difference-in-the-world-between-the-criminal-s/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“What imperialists actually wanted was expansion of political power without the foundation of the body politic. Imperialist expansion had been touched off by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-imperialists-actually-wanted-was-expansion-of-political-power/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [the greater the bureaucratization of public life, the greater will be the attraction of violence. In a fully developed bureaucracy there is nobody left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-greater-the-bureaucratization-of-public-life-the-greater-will-be/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/forgiveness-is-the-key-to-action-and-freedom/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Death not merely ends life, it also bestows upon it a silent completeness, snatched from the hazardous flux to which all things human are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/death-not-merely-ends-life-it-also-bestows-upon-it-a-silent/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Only crime and the criminal, it is true, confront us with the perplexity of radical evil; but only the hypocrite is really rotten to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/only-crime-and-the-criminal-it-is-true-confront-us-with-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [We have almost succeeded in leveling all human activities to the common denominator of securing the necessities of life and providing for their abundance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/we-have-almost-succeeded-in-leveling-all-human-activities-to-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“Totalitarian politics—far from being simply antisemitic or racist or imperialist or communist—use and abuse their own ideological and political elements until the basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/totalitarian-politics-far-from-being-simply-antisemitic-or-racist-or/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“It is like the distinction between war and peace: just as war takes place for the sake of peace, thus every kind of activity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/it-is-like-the-distinction-between-war-and-peace-just-as-war-takes/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Every end in history necessarily contains a new beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/every-end-in-history-necessarily-contains-a-new-beginning/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) [Explore all 405 Hannah Arendt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) ## More Assembly quotes > [We can see nothing whatever of the soul unless it is visible in the expression of the countenance; one might call the faces at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/we-can-see-nothing-whatever-of-the-soul-unless-it-is-visible-in-the/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [ Mac \[Barnett\] and I prank each other during our presentation. We show baby pictures of each other looking completely ridiculous. I can't believe the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jory-john/mac-barnett-and-i-prank-each-other-during-our-presentation-we-show/) [Jory John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jory-john/) > [She went from opera, park, assembly, play, To morning walks, and prayers three hours a day. To part her time 'twixt reading and bohea,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/she-went-from-opera-park-assembly-play-to-morning-walks-and-prayers/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [We stand today at the threshold of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/we-stand-today-at-the-threshold-of-a-great-event-both-in-the-life-of/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [Club: An assembly of good fellows, meeting under certain conditions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/club-an-assembly-of-good-fellows-meeting-under-certain-conditions/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Yet if anyone cares to read over the now crumbling minutes giving an account of the meetings at which the Italian Fasci di Combattimento…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benito-mussolini/yet-if-anyone-cares-to-read-over-the-now-crumbling-minutes-giving-an/) [Benito Mussolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benito-mussolini/) > [To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/to-that-world-assembly-of-sovereign-states-the-united-nations-our/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [“Liberalism is a creation of the seventeenth century, fathered by British philosopher John Locke (1632–1704). For Locke, liberalism means limited government, the rule of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-boghossian/liberalism-is-a-creation-of-the-seventeenth-century-fathered-by/) [Peter Boghossian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-boghossian/) > [Well I'm not dancing," Will said through gritted teeth. "I don't know how." Oh yes you are," Alyss told him. "Let's hope you're a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flanagan/well-i-m-not-dancing-will-said-through-gritted-teeth-i-don-t-know-how/) [John Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flanagan/) > [For you deal here above all with human life, and human life is sacred; no one may dare make an attempt upon it. Respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-paul-vi/for-you-deal-here-above-all-with-human-life-and-human-life-is-sacred/) [Pope Paul VI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-paul-vi/) > [I was a star campaigner for the Aruvikkara byelection and the assembly elections. They were very valuable experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suresh-gopi/i-was-a-star-campaigner-for-the-aruvikkara-byelection-and-the/) [Suresh Gopi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suresh-gopi/) > [One cannot walk through an assembly factory and not feel that one is in Hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/one-cannot-walk-through-an-assembly-factory-and-not-feel-that-one-is/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [If you wait for a perfect church, you must wait until you get to heaven; and even if you could find a perfect assembly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/if-you-wait-for-a-perfect-church-you-must-wait-until-you-get-to/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [No harm will come to me. The Assembly is prepared to treat us leniently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-antoinette/no-harm-will-come-to-me-the-assembly-is-prepared-to-treat-us-leniently/) [Marie Antoinette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-antoinette/) > [Every year, the United Nations General Assembly votes on a resolution entitled 'Peaceful resolution of the Palestine conflict.' Every year, the vote is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/every-year-the-united-nations-general-assembly-votes-on-a-resolution/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) [Browse all 409 Assembly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assembly/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When we were told that by freedom we understood free enterprise, we did very little to dispel this monstrous falsehood. Wealth and economic well-being, we have asserted, are the fruits of freedom, while we should have been the first to know that this kind of happiness has been an unmixed blessing only in this country, and it is a minor blessing compared with the truly political freedoms, such as freedom of speech and thought, of assembly and association, even under the best conditions.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hannah Arendt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/when-we-were-told-that-by-freedom-we-understood-free-enterprise-we/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Assembly" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/when-we-were-told-that-by-freedom-we-understood-free-enterprise-we/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/hannah-arendt-610_assembly_when-we-were-told-that-by-freedom-we-und_1436203.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/hannah-arendt-610_assembly_when-we-were-told-that-by-freedom-we-und_1436203.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/hannah-arendt-610_assembly_when-we-were-told-that-by-freedom-we-und_1436203.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When we were told that by freedom we understood free enterprise, we did very little to dispel this monstrous…” — Hannah Arendt", "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": "Hannah Arendt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When we were told that by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/when-we-were-told-that-by-freedom-we-understood-free-enterprise-we/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/when-we-were-told-that-by-freedom-we-understood-free-enterprise-we/#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 } } ] } ```