--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If men use their liberty in such a way as…" description: "\"If men use their liberty in such a way as to surrender their liberty, are they thereafter any the less slaves? If people by a plebiscite elect a man de..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/herbert-spencer-1765_despotism_if-men-use-their-liberty-in-such-a-way-a_2372184.jpg" --- # If men use their liberty in such a way as to surrender… ![“If men use their liberty in such a way as to surrender their liberty, are they thereafter any the less slaves? If people by a plebiscite elect a man despot over them, do they remain free because the despotism was of their own making?” quote by Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/herbert-spencer-1765_despotism_if-men-use-their-liberty-in-such-a-way-a_2372184.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/herbert-spencer-1765_despotism_if-men-use-their-liberty-in-such-a-way-a_2372184.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/herbert-spencer-1765_despotism_if-men-use-their-liberty-in-such-a-way-a_2372184.jpg) > “If men use their liberty in such a way as to surrender their liberty, are they thereafter any the less slaves? If people by a plebiscite elect a man despot over them, do they remain free because the despotism was of their own making?” [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Surrendering liberty for security makes one a slave; electing a despot by popular vote does not guarantee freedom. **In simple terms:** Giving up freedom creates slavery, even if chosen. Key Takeaway Guard liberty; avoid trading it for false security. Themes freedom despotism democracy Mood thoughtful concerned Type philosophical political When to use this quote - voting - civil rights activism - government reform - education campaigns Key Concepts political philosophy ethics social contract Questions to Reflect On - Can true freedom exist under a popular despot? - What safeguards protect liberty in a democracy? A Different Perspective Popular support can legitimize oppression, making resistance harder. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Despotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despotism/) [Despots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despots/) [Free Despotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-despotism-5845472/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Liberty Slaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty-slaves-447113/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Slaves People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slaves-people-550372/) [Surrender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surrender/) [Surrender Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surrender-liberty-1203228/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [There's no dishonor in being forced by a superior power into slavery, but it is an eternal disgrace to voluntarily surrender one's liberty for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charley-reese/there-s-no-dishonor-in-being-forced-by-a-superior-power-into-slavery/) [Charley Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charley-reese/) > [Instead of criticizing Masonry, let us than God for one alter where no man is asked to surrender his liberty of thought and become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-fort-newton/instead-of-criticizing-masonry-let-us-than-god-for-one-alter-where-no/) [Joseph Fort Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-fort-newton/) > [What we must remember, however, is that preservation of liberties does not depend on motives. A suppression of liberty has the same effect whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-douglas/what-we-must-remember-however-is-that-preservation-of-liberties-does/) [William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-douglas/) > [Liberty is not for these slaves; I do not advocate inflicting it against their conscience. On the contrary, I am strongly in favor of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/liberty-is-not-for-these-slaves-i-do-not-advocate-inflicting-it/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The sky is dark. But to understand something is to give light. Those who deny liberty to the slaves may have white skins, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-baldorioty-de-castro/the-sky-is-dark-but-to-understand-something-is-to-give-light-those/) [Roman Baldorioty de Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-baldorioty-de-castro/) > [Few persons enjoy real liberty; we are all slaves to ideas or habits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/few-persons-enjoy-real-liberty-we-are-all-slaves-to-ideas-or-habits/) [Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/) > [Nothing is more disgusting than the crowing about liberty by slaves, as most men are, and the flippant mistaking for freedom of some paper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/nothing-is-more-disgusting-than-the-crowing-about-liberty-by-slaves/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The end of despots is always odd?exhilarating to those who suffered their tyrannies, and to those who hold despotism in contempt, and anti-climatic at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fouad-ajami/the-end-of-despots-is-always-odd-exhilarating-to-those-who-suffered/) [Fouad Ajami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fouad-ajami/) > [Every State is a despotism, be the despot one or many.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/every-state-is-a-despotism-be-the-despot-one-or-many/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [Despots govern by terror. They know that he who fears God fears nothing else; and therefore they eradicate from the mind, through their Voltaire,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/despots-govern-by-terror-they-know-that-he-who-fears-god-fears/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [The constitution has erected no such single tribunal, knowing that to whatever hands confided, with the corruption's of time and party, its members would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-constitution-has-erected-no-such-single-tribunal-knowing-that-to/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Despotism is unjust to everybody, including the despot, who was probably made for better things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/despotism-is-unjust-to-everybody-including-the-despot-who-was/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [There are three kinds of despots. There is the despot who tyrannizes over the body. There is the despot who tyrannizes over the soul.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/there-are-three-kinds-of-despots-there-is-the-despot-who-tyrannizes/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [If Despotism failed only for want of a capable benevolent despot, what chance has Democracy, which requires a whole population of capable voters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/if-despotism-failed-only-for-want-of-a-capable-benevolent-despot-what/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [At a distance, we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/at-a-distance-we-cannot-conceive-of-the-authority-of-a-despot-who/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) ## More by Herbert Spencer > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Any piece of knowledge which the pupil has himself acquired- any problem which he has himself solved, becomes, by virtue of the conquest, much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/any-piece-of-knowledge-which-the-pupil-has-himself-acquired-any/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Conservatism defends those coercive arrangements which a still-lingering savageness makes requisite. Radicalism endeavours to realize a state more in harmony with the character of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/conservatism-defends-those-coercive-arrangements-which-a-still/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Absolute morality is the regulation of conduct in such a way that pain shall not be inflicted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/absolute-morality-is-the-regulation-of-conduct-in-such-a-way-that/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [When a man's knowledge is not in order, the more of it he has the greater will be his confusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/when-a-man-s-knowledge-is-not-in-order-the-more-of-it-he-has-the/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [The cruelty of a Fijian god, who, represented as devouring the souls of the dead, may be supposed to inflict torture during the process,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/the-cruelty-of-a-fijian-god-who-represented-as-devouring-the-souls-of/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [The liberty the citizen enjoys is to be measured not by governmental machinery he lives under, whether representative or other, but by the paucity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/the-liberty-the-citizen-enjoys-is-to-be-measured-not-by-governmental/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [I had a great dislike to the annoyances entailed by baggage; and it was always with some feeling of elation that I cut myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/i-had-a-great-dislike-to-the-annoyances-entailed-by-baggage-and-it/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Progress, therefore, is not an accident, but a necessity…It is a part of nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/progress-therefore-is-not-an-accident-but-a-necessity-it-is-a-part-of/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Surely in much talk there cannot choose but be much vanity. Loquacity is the fistula of the mind,--ever-running and almost incurable, let every man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/surely-in-much-talk-there-cannot-choose-but-be-much-vanity-loquacity/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [No one can be perfectly free till all are free; no one can be perfectly moral till all are moral; no one can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-one-can-be-perfectly-free-till-all-are-free-no-one-can-be/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [Only when Genius is married to Science can the highest results be produced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/only-when-genius-is-married-to-science-can-the-highest-results-be/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [It cannot but happen?that those will survive whose functions happen to be most nearly in equilibrium with the modified aggregate of external forces? This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/it-cannot-but-happen-that-those-will-survive-whose-functions-happen/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [“Before he can remake his society, his society must make him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/before-he-can-remake-his-society-his-society-must-make-him/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) [Explore all 210 Herbert Spencer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) ## More Despotism quotes > [Generally, I like all islands. There, it is easier to rule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/generally-i-like-all-islands-there-it-is-easier-to-rule/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [At a distance, we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/at-a-distance-we-cannot-conceive-of-the-authority-of-a-despot-who/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“The central government was a despotism tempered by military rebellion and assassination and replacement of one scurvy lot of ruling dynasts by another. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-f-cantor/the-central-government-was-a-despotism-tempered-by-military-rebellion/) [Norman F. Cantor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-f-cantor/) > [When the savages of Louisiana wish to have fruit, they cut the tree at the bottom and gather the fruit. That is exactly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-de-montesquieu/when-the-savages-of-louisiana-wish-to-have-fruit-they-cut-the-tree-at/) [Baron de Montesquieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-de-montesquieu/) > [Republican despotism is more fertile in acts of tyranny, because everyone has a hand in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/republican-despotism-is-more-fertile-in-acts-of-tyranny-because/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [There are, after all, atheists who say they wish the fable were true but are unable to suspend the requisite disbelief, or who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/there-are-after-all-atheists-who-say-they-wish-the-fable-were-true/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Neither should men study war with a view to the enslavement of those who do not deserve to be enslaved; but first of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/neither-should-men-study-war-with-a-view-to-the-enslavement-of-those/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [If Despotism failed only for want of a capable benevolent despot, what chance has Democracy, which requires a whole population of capable voters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/if-despotism-failed-only-for-want-of-a-capable-benevolent-despot-what/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Liberty ... was a two-headed boon. There was first, the liberty of the people as a whole to determine the forms of their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/liberty-was-a-two-headed-boon-there-was-first-the-liberty-of-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“No longer enslaved or made dependent by force of law, the great majority are so by force of poverty; they are still chained to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/no-longer-enslaved-or-made-dependent-by-force-of-law-the-great/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [“All despotism is bad; but the worst is that which works with the machinery of freedom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junius/all-despotism-is-bad-but-the-worst-is-that-which-works-with-the/) [Junius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junius/) > [But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-when-a-long-train-of-abuses-and-usurpations-pursuing-invariably/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Despotism often presents itself as the repairer of all the ills suffered, the support of just rights, defender of the oppressed, and founder of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/despotism-often-presents-itself-as-the-repairer-of-all-the-ills/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [A court which yields to the popular will thereby licenses itself to practice despotism, for there can be no assurance that it will not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/a-court-which-yields-to-the-popular-will-thereby-licenses-itself-to/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [“Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/despotism-may-govern-without-faith-but-liberty-cannot/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) [Browse all 327 Despotism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despotism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If men use their liberty in such a way as to surrender their liberty, are they thereafter any the less slaves? If people by a plebiscite elect a man despot over them, do they remain free because the despotism was of their own making?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Herbert Spencer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/if-men-use-their-liberty-in-such-a-way-as-to-surrender-their-liberty/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Despotism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/if-men-use-their-liberty-in-such-a-way-as-to-surrender-their-liberty/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/herbert-spencer-1765_despotism_if-men-use-their-liberty-in-such-a-way-a_2372184.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/herbert-spencer-1765_despotism_if-men-use-their-liberty-in-such-a-way-a_2372184.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/206/herbert-spencer-1765_despotism_if-men-use-their-liberty-in-such-a-way-a_2372184.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If men use their liberty in such a way as to surrender their liberty, are they thereafter any the less…” — Herbert Spencer", "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": "Herbert Spencer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If men use their liberty in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/if-men-use-their-liberty-in-such-a-way-as-to-surrender-their-liberty/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/if-men-use-their-liberty-in-such-a-way-as-to-surrender-their-liberty/#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 } } ] } ```