--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Laziness and cowardice explain why so…" description: "\"Laziness and cowardice explain why so many men. . . remain under a life-long tutelage and why it is so easy for some men to set themselves up as the gu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/025/immanuel-kant-532_book_laziness-and-cowardice-explain-why-so-ma_2349855.jpg" --- # Laziness and cowardice explain why so many men. . . remain… ![“Laziness and cowardice explain why so many men. . . remain under a life-long tutelage and why it is so easy for some men to set themselves up as the guardians of all the rest. . . If I have a book which understands for me, a pastor who has a conscience for me, a doctor who decides my diet, I need…” quote by Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/025/immanuel-kant-532_book_laziness-and-cowardice-explain-why-so-ma_2349855.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/025/immanuel-kant-532_book_laziness-and-cowardice-explain-why-so-ma_2349855.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/025/immanuel-kant-532_book_laziness-and-cowardice-explain-why-so-ma_2349855.jpg) > “Laziness and cowardice explain why so many men. . . remain under a life-long tutelage and why it is so easy for some men to set themselves up as the guardians of all the rest. . . If I have a book which understands for me, a pastor who has a conscience for me, a doctor who decides my diet, I need not trouble myself. If I am willing to pay, I need not think. Others will do it for me.” [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Kant critiques reliance on external authority, urging personal responsibility and critical thinking over passive dependence. **In simple terms:** Think for yourself instead of relying on others. Key Takeaway Cultivate independent judgment. Themes responsibility critical thinking autonomy Mood reflective critical Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - education - personal decision-making - health choices - spiritual guidance Key Concepts philosophy ethics self-reliance Questions to Reflect On - Do you surrender thinking to experts? - How can you balance guidance with personal thought? A Different Perspective Blind trust can limit growth and lead to manipulation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) [Cowardice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowardice/) [Doctor who](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctor-who/) [Doctors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctors/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Guardian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guardian/) [Laziness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laziness/) [Long life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Pastor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pastor/) [Procrastination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/procrastination/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Tutelage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tutelage/) ## Related quotes > [“Laziness and cowardice are the reasons why so great a portion of mankind, after nature has long since discharged them from external direction (naturaliter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/laziness-and-cowardice-are-the-reasons-why-so-great-a-portion-of/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Through laziness and cowardice a large part of mankind, even after nature has freed them from alien guidance, gladly remain immature. It is because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/through-laziness-and-cowardice-a-large-part-of-mankind-even-after/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [“Enlightenment is man's exodus from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is the inability to use one's understanding without the guidance of another person..'Dare to Know'(sapere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/enlightenment-is-man-s-exodus-from-his-self-incurred-tutelage/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [“Enlightenment is man's release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is man's inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another. 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To shrink…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/we-may-be-content-to-remain-what-we-call-ordinary-people-but-he-is/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [One wonders whether a generation that demands instant satisfaction of all its needs and instant solution of the world's problems will produce anything of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/one-wonders-whether-a-generation-that-demands-instant-satisfaction-of/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [It is only after mature deliberation and thorough preparation that I have decided upon the Program of Revolution and defined the procedure of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-yat-sen/it-is-only-after-mature-deliberation-and-thorough-preparation-that-i/) [Sun Yat-sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-yat-sen/) > [ Richard \[Griffiths\] was by my side during two of the most important moments of my career. 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Supere aude! Dare to use your own understanding!is thus the motto of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/enlightenment-is-the-liberation-of-man-from-his-self-caused-state-of/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [The ideal of the supreme being is nothing but a regulative principle of reason which directs us to look upon all connection in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/the-ideal-of-the-supreme-being-is-nothing-but-a-regulative-principle/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [“Jeg skal alltid handle slik at den regelen jeg handler etter kunne gjelde som allmenn lov.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/jeg-skal-alltid-handle-slik-at-den-regelen-jeg-handler-etter-kunne/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Deaths, births, and marriages, considering how much they are separately dependent on the freedom of the human will, should seem to be subject to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/deaths-births-and-marriages-considering-how-much-they-are-separately/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [It is precisely in knowing its limits that philosophy consists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/it-is-precisely-in-knowing-its-limits-that-philosophy-consists/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [A society that is not willing to demand a life of somebody who has taken somebody else’s life is simply immoral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/a-society-that-is-not-willing-to-demand-a-life-of-somebody-who-has/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [. . . as to moral feeling, this supposed special sense, the appeal to it is indeed superficial when those who cannot think believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/as-to-moral-feeling-this-supposed-special-sense-the-appeal-to-it-is/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) [Explore all 476 Immanuel Kant quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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