--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are two competing philosophies in…" description: "\"There are two competing philosophies in 'Wool': one is that people have to live under an iron thumb in order to survive, and the other one is that ever..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57d/hugh-howey-841_competing_there-are-two-competing-philosophies-in_418905.png" --- # There are two competing philosophies in 'Wool': one is… ![“There are two competing philosophies in 'Wool': one is that people have to live under an iron thumb in order to survive, and the other one is that everyone should live completely freely and happily and everything will sort itself out.” quote by Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57d/hugh-howey-841_competing_there-are-two-competing-philosophies-in_418905.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57d/hugh-howey-841_competing_there-are-two-competing-philosophies-in_418905.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57d/hugh-howey-841_competing_there-are-two-competing-philosophies-in_418905.png) > “There are two competing philosophies in 'Wool': one is that people have to live under an iron thumb in order to survive, and the other one is that everyone should live completely freely and happily and everything will sort itself out.” [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Societies oscillate between authoritarian control and libertarian freedom; both extremes have flaws. **In simple terms:** Freedom and control are opposing forces. Key Takeaway Seek balanced governance. Themes politics philosophy society Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - public policy - community building - urban planning Key Concepts anarchism authoritarianism social contract Questions to Reflect On - What balance works best in your community? - How can liberty be protected without chaos? A Different Perspective Idealism may ignore practical needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Competing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/competing/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Philosophies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophies/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) ## Related quotes > [A lot of people these days are very much too wrapped up in cotton wool: people aren't pushed to their limits, and that's why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ant-middleton/a-lot-of-people-these-days-are-very-much-too-wrapped-up-in-cotton/) [Ant Middleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ant-middleton/) > [“I live completely without regret. Sure there are plenty of things that someone could second guess, but I see the path of life like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-a-wood-jr/i-live-completely-without-regret-sure-there-are-plenty-of-things-that/) [Michael A. Wood Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-a-wood-jr/) > [I am not aware of anything below my neck. I live completely in my head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/i-am-not-aware-of-anything-below-my-neck-i-live-completely-in-my-head/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [Fondue sets, martini shakers and juicing machines: three things the world could live completely without.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/fondue-sets-martini-shakers-and-juicing-machines-three-things-the/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [People cannot live completely by themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiroo-onoda/people-cannot-live-completely-by-themselves/) [Hiroo Onoda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiroo-onoda/) > [When you live completely in each moment, without expecting anything, you have no idea of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shunryu-suzuki/when-you-live-completely-in-each-moment-without-expecting-anything/) [Shunryu Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shunryu-suzuki/) > [Education is preparation to live completely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/education-is-preparation-to-live-completely/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [My will to live completely overcame my desire to win](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-hajos/my-will-to-live-completely-overcame-my-desire-to-win/) Alfred Hajos > [he asked if i wouldn't like to live completely without problems, say in greece maybe, nice climate, everything provided? i say: "when we find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/he-asked-if-i-wouldn-t-like-to-live-completely-without-problems-say/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [Everybody please put a thumb in the air](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mac-miller/everybody-please-put-a-thumb-in-the-air/) [Mac Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mac-miller/) > [As a general rule of thumb, Democrats do better in national elections when the year's defining issue is economic fairness, and Republicans do better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-perlstein/as-a-general-rule-of-thumb-democrats-do-better-in-national-elections/) [Rick Perlstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-perlstein/) > [I think that it should just be a rule of thumb that if your job asks you to cut your hair... that means that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-anderson/i-think-that-it-should-just-be-a-rule-of-thumb-that-if-your-job-asks/) [Blake Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-anderson/) > [“He ran his thumb over my lower lip, sending a flurry of sparks through me. "Good-bye, Sophie." -Cal”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-hawkins/he-ran-his-thumb-over-my-lower-lip-sending-a-flurry-of-sparks-through/) [Rachel Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-hawkins/) > [If you take your thumb and your index finger and look right where they meet - go ahead and do that now - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-eglash/if-you-take-your-thumb-and-your-index-finger-and-look-right-where/) [Ron Eglash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-eglash/) > [Too much under the thumb of the Iranians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-schiff/too-much-under-the-thumb-of-the-iranians/) [Adam Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-schiff/) ## More by Hugh Howey > [“the mind-numbing routine. It was the castration of thought,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/the-mind-numbing-routine-it-was-the-castration-of-thought/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [“a crime to fell a tree and light it on fire, where coals of hardened shit warmed and stunk up homes,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/a-crime-to-fell-a-tree-and-light-it-on-fire-where-coals-of-hardened/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [Even in the darkness, his smile threw shadows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/even-in-the-darkness-his-smile-threw-shadows/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [“The Loud came before the quiet. That was a Rule of the World, for the bangs and shouts need somewhere to echo, just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/the-loud-came-before-the-quiet-that-was-a-rule-of-the-world-for-the/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [“People from IT sent to replace those they’d killed. Juliette’s”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/people-from-it-sent-to-replace-those-they-d-killed-juliette-s/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [“a heap of words designed to hinder communication rather than facilitate it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/a-heap-of-words-designed-to-hinder-communication-rather-than/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [“That leaves Bravo Company, the expendables who know what they’re doing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/that-leaves-bravo-company-the-expendables-who-know-what-they-re-doing/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [“Sleep was a vehicle for passing the time, for avoiding the present. It was a trolley for the depressed, the impatient, and the dying.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/sleep-was-a-vehicle-for-passing-the-time-for-avoiding-the-present-it/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [“Overhead, tangles of wires knotted together in a grand display of unplanned infrastructure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/overhead-tangles-of-wires-knotted-together-in-a-grand-display-of/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [“Montana wants to scream, but the thing she is angry at is in the past. The past can’t hear her. This is the thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/montana-wants-to-scream-but-the-thing-she-is-angry-at-is-in-the-past/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [“I guess what I'm sayin' is, if you want to give Jules a job, be very careful.” “Why be careful?” Marnes asked. Marck gazed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/i-guess-what-i-m-sayin-is-if-you-want-to-give-jules-a-job-be-very/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [One of the many things that surprised me about 'Wool' is how many of its fans don't consider themselves science fiction readers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/one-of-the-many-things-that-surprised-me-about-wool-is-how-many-of/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [“We have allowed a dangerous forest to grow as we try to guard against individual trees.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/we-have-allowed-a-dangerous-forest-to-grow-as-we-try-to-guard-against/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [“You’re . . . a rock,” I tell the rock. “The fuck I am.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/you-re-a-rock-i-tell-the-rock-the-fuck-i-am/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [“I hated Sundays as a kid. From the moment I woke up, I could feel Monday looming,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/i-hated-sundays-as-a-kid-from-the-moment-i-woke-up-i-could-feel/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) [Explore all 351 Hugh Howey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) ## More Competing quotes > [When you reach that competing point, when you reach that time when the gun is about to go off, everyone's level is pretty much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/apolo-ohno/when-you-reach-that-competing-point-when-you-reach-that-time-when-the/) [Apolo Ohno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/apolo-ohno/) > [Popular culture as a whole is popular, but in today's fragmented market it's a jostle of competing unpopular popular cultures. As the critic Stanley…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/popular-culture-as-a-whole-is-popular-but-in-today-s-fragmented/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [I have no social life. There is no time for one. Once in a while I may go to dinner with a friend but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-halliday/i-have-no-social-life-there-is-no-time-for-one-once-in-a-while-i-may/) [Liz Halliday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-halliday/) > [I competed every day as a professional football player... You've got to like competing. That's how your team gets better, when you have competition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herm-edwards/i-competed-every-day-as-a-professional-football-player-you-ve-got-to/) [Herm Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herm-edwards/) > [There are 16 year olds competing at the olympics and i still push on pull doors & struggle getting through the whole day without a nap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-eastwood/there-are-16-year-olds-competing-at-the-olympics-and-i-still-push-on/) [Scott Eastwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-eastwood/) > [I love nothing more than going out there and competing. And baseball's my outlet to do that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-fried/i-love-nothing-more-than-going-out-there-and-competing-and-baseball-s/) [Max Fried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-fried/) > [I've always worked closely with the designers and whoever's making the costumes. Comfort is the last thing you want on your mind when you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristi-yamaguchi/i-ve-always-worked-closely-with-the-designers-and-whoever-s-making/) [Kristi Yamaguchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristi-yamaguchi/) > [I don't think anybody who carries a rifle carries the future. Because I don't believe that you can really change the world by killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shimon-peres/i-don-t-think-anybody-who-carries-a-rifle-carries-the-future-because/) [Shimon Peres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shimon-peres/) > [America breeds ambition and while that can be a good thing, sometimes it's not. Ambition also breeds competition and that can be a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaka-khan/america-breeds-ambition-and-while-that-can-be-a-good-thing-sometimes/) [Chaka Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaka-khan/) > [I'll miss the competitive side and the camaraderie of being around the players and competing each and every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scottie-pippen/i-ll-miss-the-competitive-side-and-the-camaraderie-of-being-around/) [Scottie Pippen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scottie-pippen/) > [Being away from the game and just remembering why I love competing and all of that, I think it helped me tremendously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madison-keys/being-away-from-the-game-and-just-remembering-why-i-love-competing/) [Madison Keys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madison-keys/) > [Competing is intense among humans, and within a group, selfish individuals always win. But in contests between groups, groups of altruists always beat groups…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/competing-is-intense-among-humans-and-within-a-group-selfish/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [We're competing against other great cities: Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo. That's why it's important that we all join together on the final…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-daley/we-re-competing-against-other-great-cities-madrid-rio-de-janeiro-and/) [Richard M. Daley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-daley/) > [That this is not a sense of innovation and competition increasing prices because some other company is coming in and competing with Martin Shkreli.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-ann-reid/that-this-is-not-a-sense-of-innovation-and-competition-increasing/) [Joy-Ann Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-ann-reid/) > [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/) [Browse all 1,003 Competing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/competing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are two competing philosophies in 'Wool': one is that people have to live under an iron thumb in order to survive, and the other one is that everyone should live completely freely and happily and everything will sort itself out.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hugh Howey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/there-are-two-competing-philosophies-in-wool-one-is-that-people-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Competing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/there-are-two-competing-philosophies-in-wool-one-is-that-people-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57d/hugh-howey-841_competing_there-are-two-competing-philosophies-in_418905.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57d/hugh-howey-841_competing_there-are-two-competing-philosophies-in_418905.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57d/hugh-howey-841_competing_there-are-two-competing-philosophies-in_418905.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are two competing philosophies in 'Wool': one is that people have to live under an iron thumb in order…” — Hugh Howey", "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": "Hugh Howey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There are two competing philosophies in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/there-are-two-competing-philosophies-in-wool-one-is-that-people-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/there-are-two-competing-philosophies-in-wool-one-is-that-people-have/#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 } } ] } ```