--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is especially important to remember…" description: "\"“It is especially important to remember that the ownership of humans is possible too; not in terms of actual slavery, which they are proud to have abol..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e95/iain-m-banks-3729_armed-forces_it-is-especially-important-to-remember-t_2085206.jpg" --- # It is especially important to remember that the ownership… ![“It is especially important to remember that the ownership of humans is possible too; not in terms of actual slavery, which they are proud to have abolished, but in the sense that, according to which sex and class one belongs to, one may be partially owned by another or others by having to sell…” quote by Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e95/iain-m-banks-3729_armed-forces_it-is-especially-important-to-remember-t_2085206.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e95/iain-m-banks-3729_armed-forces_it-is-especially-important-to-remember-t_2085206.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e95/iain-m-banks-3729_armed-forces_it-is-especially-important-to-remember-t_2085206.jpg) > ““It is especially important to remember that the ownership of humans is possible too; not in terms of actual slavery, which they are proud to have abolished, but in the sense that, according to which sex and class one belongs to, one may be partially owned by another or others by having to sell one's labour or talents to somebody with the means to buy them. In the case of males, they give themselves most totally when they become soldiers; the personnel in their armed forces are like slaves, with little personal freedom, and under threat of death if they disobey. Females sell their bodies, usually, entering into the legal contract of "marriage" to Intermediates, who then pay them for their sexual favours by-”” [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human beings can be owned indirectly through economic, gender, or military structures, limiting true freedom. **In simple terms:** People can be controlled by money, gender, or war. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge hidden forms of ownership. Themes freedom economics gender military power Mood critical reflective Type philosophical political When to use this quote - workplace negotiations - marriage contracts - military service - economic dependency Key Concepts social hierarchy labor exploitation gender oppression military conscription Questions to Reflect On - How do modern institutions mask ownership? - What can individuals do to reclaim autonomy? A Different Perspective Ownership may be disguised as choice or contract, making resistance difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Armed forces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/armed-forces/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Personal freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-freedom/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [Slaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slaves/) ## Related quotes > [If we gotta fight and die for America, why should we be treated like slaves in America?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hosea-williams/if-we-gotta-fight-and-die-for-america-why-should-we-be-treated-like/) Hosea Williams > [My first job was with an auto plant, Kansas City - they treated you like slaves. From there I went back to Chicago, worked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-asner/my-first-job-was-with-an-auto-plant-kansas-city-they-treated-you-like/) [Ed Asner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-asner/) > [“We're all like the slaves in the fields now, putting on the front that says 'Everything's fine, boss' while we worry about how to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/we-re-all-like-the-slaves-in-the-fields-now-putting-on-the-front-that/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [“I heard other people speaking in the name of freedom, and the more they defended this unique right, the more enslaved they seemed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-heard-other-people-speaking-in-the-name-of-freedom-and-the-more/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I confront the European elite's self-image as tolerant 'while under their noses women are living like slaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayaan-hirsi-ali/i-confront-the-european-elite-s-self-image-as-tolerant-while-under/) [Ayaan Hirsi Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayaan-hirsi-ali/) > [Prostitutes don't sell their bodies, they rent their bodies. Housewives sell their bodies when they get married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florynce-kennedy/prostitutes-don-t-sell-their-bodies-they-rent-their-bodies-housewives/) [Florynce Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florynce-kennedy/) > [“If a girl wants to sell her body, so be it. None of my business. Don't athletes sell their bodies, too? People can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-markus-malloy/if-a-girl-wants-to-sell-her-body-so-be-it-none-of-my-business-don-t/) [Oliver Markus Malloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-markus-malloy/) > [Prostitutes don't sell their bodies. You sell your morals..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yashowardhan/prostitutes-don-t-sell-their-bodies-you-sell-your-morals/) [Yashowardhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yashowardhan/) > [The Internet frees people to realize they don't have to live like slaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/the-internet-frees-people-to-realize-they-don-t-have-to-live-like/) [Michio Kaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kaku/) > [“Why is it so horrible?" I ask him. "Life. All this. Why do they need to make us do this? Why do they treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brown/why-is-it-so-horrible-i-ask-him-life-all-this-why-do-they-need-to/) [Pierce Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brown/) > [I've been a prima-dona. I was taken care of since I was 13. That's why I am the way I am today. I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/i-ve-been-a-prima-dona-i-was-taken-care-of-since-i-was-13-that-s-why/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-falwell/christians-like-slaves-and-soldiers-ask-no-questions/) [Jerry Falwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-falwell/) > [These cats drink champagne and toast to death and pain, like slaves on a ship talking about who's got the flyest chain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-kweli/these-cats-drink-champagne-and-toast-to-death-and-pain-like-slaves-on/) [Talib Kweli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-kweli/) > [It is unworthy of excellent men to lose hours like slaves in the labor of calculation which could be relegated to anyone else if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/it-is-unworthy-of-excellent-men-to-lose-hours-like-slaves-in-the-2/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [“This will be seen by the fact, that the slaveholders like to have their slaves spend those days just in such a manner as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/this-will-be-seen-by-the-fact-that-the-slaveholders-like-to-have/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) ## More by Iain M. Banks > [“It never ceased to amaze him how quickly a small child's face could turn from peach to beetroot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/it-never-ceased-to-amaze-him-how-quickly-a-small-child-s-face-could/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“There's something very... I don't know; primitive, perhaps, about you, Gurgeh. You've never changed sex, have you?' He shook his head. 'Or slept with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/there-s-something-very-i-don-t-know-primitive-perhaps-about-you/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [ “\[I\]t was really only in the generation or two before hers that the idea had started to traverse the spectrum of likelihood in the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/i-t-was-really-only-in-the-generation-or-two-before-hers-that-the/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“Some problems were generational; you just had to wait for the relevant elders to die off and be replaced with more progressive types.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/some-problems-were-generational-you-just-had-to-wait-for-the-relevant/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“I can understand that people want to feel special and important and so on, but that self-obsession seems a bit pathetic somehow. Not being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/i-can-understand-that-people-want-to-feel-special-and-important-and/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“We always want more, he thought, we always take our past successes for granted and assume they point the way to future success. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/we-always-want-more-he-thought-we-always-take-our-past-successes-for/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“just one more species, which would grow and expand and then, finding the plateau phase all non-suicidal species eventually arrived at, settle down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/just-one-more-species-which-would-grow-and-expand-and-then-finding/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“Darkness came like a black flag waved over the canyon, drawing back the grayness from the shores of the city, then pushing forward the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/darkness-came-like-a-black-flag-waved-over-the-canyon-drawing-back/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“Then the machine started to reel off infant-mortality rates and life-expectancy figures, sex ratios, types of diseases and their prevalence in the various strata…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/then-the-machine-started-to-reel-off-infant-mortality-rates-and-life/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“he saw that which cannot be seen; a concept; the adaptive, self-seeking urge to survive, to bend everything that can be reached to that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/he-saw-that-which-cannot-be-seen-a-concept-the-adaptive-self-seeking/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“Their history wasn’t so far off the mean track, they were going through what a thousand other civilizations had gone through, and no doubt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/their-history-wasn-t-so-far-off-the-mean-track-they-were-going/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“Tell me, what is happiness?” “Happiness? Happiness... is to wake up, on a bright spring morning, after an exhausting first night spent with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/tell-me-what-is-happiness-happiness-happiness-is-to-wake-up-on-a/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“Most people are not prepared to have their minds changed," he said. "And I think they know in their hearts that other people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/most-people-are-not-prepared-to-have-their-minds-changed-he-said-and/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“Once one survives the trough that comes with the understanding that people are going to go on being stupid and cruel to each other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/once-one-survives-the-trough-that-comes-with-the-understanding-that/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“God, what did any of it matter, in the end? You lived; you died. You were as indistinguishable from a distance as one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/god-what-did-any-of-it-matter-in-the-end-you-lived-you-died-you-were/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) [Explore all 122 Iain M. Banks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) ## More Armed forces quotes > [The terrorist attacks of September 11th and the courageous actions of our armed forces in Afghanistan and Iraq remind us that friends of tyranny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-levin/the-terrorist-attacks-of-september-11th-and-the-courageous-actions-of/) [Carl Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-levin/) > [Recruitment and retention are critical to sustain our Armed Forces with the best men and women willing to stand in the gap and make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/recruitment-and-retention-are-critical-to-sustain-our-armed-forces/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My father was in the military; he was a captain. His service was to quote-unquote integrate the Armed Forces overseas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-morton/my-father-was-in-the-military-he-was-a-captain-his-service-was-to/) [Joe Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-morton/) > [I believe that homosexual acts between individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts. I do not believe that the Armed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-pace/i-believe-that-homosexual-acts-between-individuals-are-immoral-and/) [Peter Pace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-pace/) > [“The highest ranking Russian intelligence officer to defect from Russia, Stanislav Lunev, testified at a Congressional hearing held in California in January, 2000. Before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-price/the-highest-ranking-russian-intelligence-officer-to-defect-from/) [John Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-price/) > [A colonial war is a very dirty kind of war. You're not fighting armed forces. You're fighting mostly unarmed people. And to fight that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/a-colonial-war-is-a-very-dirty-kind-of-war-you-re-not-fighting-armed/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Scotland forms a crucial part of our Armed Forces which should not be jeopardised by rushed cuts or a rush to the exit from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-hammond/scotland-forms-a-crucial-part-of-our-armed-forces-which-should-not-be/) [Philip Hammond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-hammond/) > [The people of Iraq are grateful for what the people of the United States of America and our armed forces and our coalition forces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-isakson/the-people-of-iraq-are-grateful-for-what-the-people-of-the-united/) [Johnny Isakson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-isakson/) > [I have deep respect for our armed forces and jawans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-d-kumaraswamy/i-have-deep-respect-for-our-armed-forces-and-jawans/) [H. D. Kumaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-d-kumaraswamy/) > [“The ultimate objective of all military operations is the destruction of the enemy’s armed forces and his will to fight.”\* This sums up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-wylie/the-ultimate-objective-of-all-military-operations-is-the-destruction/) [J.C. Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-wylie/) > [Relations between States, as between individuals, must be regulated not by armed force, but in accordance with...truth, justice and vigorous and sincere co-operation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-xxiii/relations-between-states-as-between-individuals-must-be-regulated-not/) [Pope John XXIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-xxiii/) > [Word to the Nation: Guard zealously your right to serve in the Armed Forces, for without them, there will be no other rights to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/word-to-the-nation-guard-zealously-your-right-to-serve-in-the-armed/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [If Congress grants permission, I would put armed forces in the streets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jair-bolsonaro/if-congress-grants-permission-i-would-put-armed-forces-in-the-streets/) [Jair Bolsonaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jair-bolsonaro/) > [To lead uninstructed people to war is to throw them away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/to-lead-uninstructed-people-to-war-is-to-throw-them-away/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Americans will forever be proud of the brave men and women of our armed forces who served in World War II, and we will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-rhodes/americans-will-forever-be-proud-of-the-brave-men-and-women-of-our/) [Ben Rhodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-rhodes/) [Browse all 342 Armed forces quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/armed-forces/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is especially important to remember that the ownership of humans is possible too; not in terms of actual slavery, which they are proud to have abolished, but in the sense that, according to which sex and class one belongs to, one may be partially owned by another or others by having to sell one's labour or talents to somebody with the means to buy them. 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