--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Enslave a man and you destroy his…" description: "\"Enslave a man and you destroy his ambition, his enterprise, his capacity. In the constitution of human nature, the desire of bettering one's condition ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/horace-mann-2022_ambition_enslave-a-man-and-you-destroy-his-ambiti_665045.png" --- # Enslave a man and you destroy his ambition, his… ![“Enslave a man and you destroy his ambition, his enterprise, his capacity. In the constitution of human nature, the desire of bettering one's condition is the mainspring of effort. The first touch of slavery snaps this spring.” quote by Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/horace-mann-2022_ambition_enslave-a-man-and-you-destroy-his-ambiti_665045.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/horace-mann-2022_ambition_enslave-a-man-and-you-destroy-his-ambiti_665045.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/horace-mann-2022_ambition_enslave-a-man-and-you-destroy-his-ambiti_665045.png) > “Enslave a man and you destroy his ambition, his enterprise, his capacity. In the constitution of human nature, the desire of bettering one's condition is the mainspring of effort. The first touch of slavery snaps this spring.” [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Oppression crushes the innate drive to improve oneself, halting progress and initiative. **In simple terms:** Slavery kills ambition. Key Takeaway Protect freedom to enable effort. Themes freedom ambition human nature effort Mood determined serious Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - education reform - human rights activism - personal development Key Concepts psychology social control motivation Questions to Reflect On - What systems in society stifle personal drive? - How can we nurture ambition in oppressed communities? A Different Perspective Even without slavery, other constraints can suppress ambition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Constitution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitution/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Enterprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enterprise/) [Hard work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-work/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring/) ## Related quotes > [“Only nature can enslave man and only when the existence of each last entity is routed out and made to stand naked before him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/only-nature-can-enslave-man-and-only-when-the-existence-of-each-last/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [There's a plot in this country to enslave every man, woman, and child. Before I leave this high and noble office, I intend to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/there-s-a-plot-in-this-country-to-enslave-every-man-woman-and-child/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [Man alone can enslave man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/man-alone-can-enslave-man/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [The principle which prompts to save is the desire of bettering our conditiona desire which?comes with us from the womb and never leaves us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/the-principle-which-prompts-to-save-is-the-desire-of-bettering-our/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [You can imprison but you can't enslave a man who argues with his books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/you-can-imprison-but-you-can-t-enslave-a-man-who-argues-with-his-books/) [Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/) > [“Thou wouldst not enslave man by a miracle, and didst crave faith given freely, not based on miracle. Thou didst crave for free love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/thou-wouldst-not-enslave-man-by-a-miracle-and-didst-crave-faith-given/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [“To disarm the people--that was the best and most effective way to enslave them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mason/to-disarm-the-people-that-was-the-best-and-most-effective-way-to/) [George Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mason/) > [They wanna hang us, see us dead, or enslave us, keep us trapped in the same place we raised in. Then they wonder why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-dre/they-wanna-hang-us-see-us-dead-or-enslave-us-keep-us-trapped-in-the/) [Dr. Dre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-dre/) > [The Hebrew scriptures say it's okay to enslave anybody except your fellow Jews. It says you should enslave only your neighbors. I say to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shelby-spong/the-hebrew-scriptures-say-it-s-okay-to-enslave-anybody-except-your/) [John Shelby Spong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shelby-spong/) > [Some people steal from others, or defraud them, or enslave them, seizing their product and preventing them from living as they choose, or forcibly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-nozick/some-people-steal-from-others-or-defraud-them-or-enslave-them-seizing/) [Robert Nozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-nozick/) > [“To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them." -George Mason - Father of the Bill of Rights”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-goodwin/to-disarm-the-people-is-the-best-and-most-effectual-way-to-enslave/) [Mark Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-goodwin/) > [“Society always tries to enslave, imprison, and execute its greatest men, those who dare to stand apart and rise above.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-torode/society-always-tries-to-enslave-imprison-and-execute-its-greatest-men/) [Sam Torode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-torode/) > [Why not exploit, enslave, or exterminate a class that everybody is taught to regard as inferior?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-g-woodson/why-not-exploit-enslave-or-exterminate-a-class-that-everybody-is/) [Carter G. Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-g-woodson/) > [A man who will enslave his own blood, may not be safely relied on for magnamity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/a-man-who-will-enslave-his-own-blood-may-not-be-safely-relied-on-for/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [The greatest of all crimes are the wars that are carried on by governments, to plunder, enslave, and destroy mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysander-spooner/the-greatest-of-all-crimes-are-the-wars-that-are-carried-on-by/) [Lysander Spooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysander-spooner/) ## More by Horace Mann > [When will society, like a mother, take care of all her children?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/when-will-society-like-a-mother-take-care-of-all-her-children/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [The earth endured Christ's ministry only three years;--not three weeks after his real character and purposes were generally known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/the-earth-endured-christ-s-ministry-only-three-years-not-three-weeks/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [If evil is inevitable, how are the wicked accountable? Nay, why do we call men wicked at all? Evil is inevitable, but is also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/if-evil-is-inevitable-how-are-the-wicked-accountable-nay-why-do-we/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [The soul of the truly benevolent man does not seem to reside much in his own body. Its life, to a great extent, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/the-soul-of-the-truly-benevolent-man-does-not-seem-to-reside-much-in/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [The pulpit only "teaches" to be honest; the market-place "trains" to overreaching and fraud; and teaching has not a tithe of the efficiency of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/the-pulpit-only-teaches-to-be-honest-the-market-place-trains-to/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [On entering this world our starting-point is ignorance. None, however, but idiots remain there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/on-entering-this-world-our-starting-point-is-ignorance-none-however/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [So, in the infinitely nobler battle in which you are engaged against error and wrong, if ever repulsed or stricken down, may you always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/so-in-the-infinitely-nobler-battle-in-which-you-are-engaged-against/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [We conceive of immortality as having a beginning, but no end; but we conceive of eternity as having neither beginning nor end. Hence it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/we-conceive-of-immortality-as-having-a-beginning-but-no-end-but-we/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [In our country and in our times no man is worthy the honored name of statesman who does not include the highest practicable education…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/in-our-country-and-in-our-times-no-man-is-worthy-the-honored-name-of/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [Genius may conceive but patient labor must consummate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/genius-may-conceive-but-patient-labor-must-consummate/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [Even the choicest literature should be taken as the condiment, and not as the sustenance of life. It should be neither the warp nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/even-the-choicest-literature-should-be-taken-as-the-condiment-and-not/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [Of all "rights" which command attention at the present time among us, woman's rights seem to take precedence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/of-all-rights-which-command-attention-at-the-present-time-among-us/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [After a child has arrived at the legal age for attending school,-whether he be the child of noble or of peasant,-the only two absolute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/after-a-child-has-arrived-at-the-legal-age-for-attending-school/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [Let the Common School be expanded to its capabilities, let it be worked with the efficiency of which it is susceptible, and nine tenths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/let-the-common-school-be-expanded-to-its-capabilities-let-it-be/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [Resistance to improvement contradicts the noblest instincts of the race. It begets its opposite. The fanaticism of reform is only the raging of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/resistance-to-improvement-contradicts-the-noblest-instincts-of-the/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) [Explore all 191 Horace Mann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) ## More Ambition quotes > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [One needs more than ambition and talent to make a success of anything, really. There must be love and a vocation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessye-norman/one-needs-more-than-ambition-and-talent-to-make-a-success-of-anything/) [Jessye Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessye-norman/) > [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [A man's worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-s-worth-is-no-greater-than-the-worth-of-his-ambitions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm hungry and ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julen-lopetegui/i-m-hungry-and-ambitious/) [Julen Lopetegui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julen-lopetegui/) > [“I was ambitious and desperate to direct my first film, so I capitulated and blew it. Never again. Never fucking again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-ferguson/i-was-ambitious-and-desperate-to-direct-my-first-film-so-i/) [Craig Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-ferguson/) > [I was always attracted most to joining City, and I am pleased to be at such a good club with such a big ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edin-dzeko/i-was-always-attracted-most-to-joining-city-and-i-am-pleased-to-be-at/) [Edin Dzeko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edin-dzeko/) > [Work towards your goal and dont watch the post size,its either they hate,or like you.there is no room for both sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-buabeng/work-towards-your-goal-and-dont-watch-the-post-size-its-either-they/) [Isaac Buabeng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-buabeng/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I almost never have a plan for myself... I'm not ambitious in that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-plimpton/i-almost-never-have-a-plan-for-myself-i-m-not-ambitious-in-that-way/) [Martha Plimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-plimpton/) > [I play for high stakes and given an audience - there is no act too daring or too noble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-play-for-high-stakes-and-given-an-audience-there-is-no-act-too/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [There's nothing worse than a leader who lacks ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-nothing-worse-than-a-leader-who-lacks-ambition/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If i can't even protect my captain's dream, then whatever ambition i have is nothing but talk..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoro/if-i-can-t-even-protect-my-captain-s-dream-then-whatever-ambition-i/) [Zoro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoro/) > [It may seem unattainable but if you put actions, your heart and your mind into it, you will prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/london-mond/it-may-seem-unattainable-but-if-you-put-actions-your-heart-and-your/) [London Mond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/london-mond/) > [Obligation is what's leading us to toward successful, and what keeps us moving towards the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wazim-shaw/obligation-is-what-s-leading-us-to-toward-successful-and-what-keeps/) [Wazim Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wazim-shaw/) [Browse all 4,601 Ambition quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Enslave a man and you destroy his ambition, his enterprise, his capacity. 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