--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Freedom is dangerous. Possibly crawling…" description: "\"Freedom is dangerous. Possibly crawling on all fours might be safer than standing upright, but we like the view better up there.\" — Isabel Paterson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff0/isabel-paterson-11023_crawling_freedom-is-dangerous-possibly-crawling-o_793641.jpg" --- # Freedom is dangerous. Possibly crawling on all fours might… ![“Freedom is dangerous. Possibly crawling on all fours might be safer than standing upright, but we like the view better up there.” quote by Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff0/isabel-paterson-11023_crawling_freedom-is-dangerous-possibly-crawling-o_793641.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff0/isabel-paterson-11023_crawling_freedom-is-dangerous-possibly-crawling-o_793641.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff0/isabel-paterson-11023_crawling_freedom-is-dangerous-possibly-crawling-o_793641.jpg) > “Freedom is dangerous. Possibly crawling on all fours might be safer than standing upright, but we like the view better up there.” [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Freedom offers great possibilities but also risks; we prefer lofty perspectives despite danger. **In simple terms:** Freedom is risky but appealing. Key Takeaway Balance risk with awareness. Themes freedom risk perspective Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - political activism - personal growth - risk assessment Key Concepts philosophy human nature choice Questions to Reflect On - Do you value the view over security? - When does risk become reckless? A Different Perspective Safety may outweigh freedom for some. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) ## Related quotes > [The belief in a political Utopia is especially dangerous. This is possibly connected with the fact that the search for a better world, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-belief-in-a-political-utopia-is-especially-dangerous-this-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We declare openly that the Arabs have no right to settle on even one centimeter of Eretz Israel… Force is all they do or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-eitan/we-declare-openly-that-the-arabs-have-no-right-to-settle-on-even-one/) Rafael Eitan > [The indignity of it!- With everything blooming above me, Lilies, pale-pink cyclamen, roses, Whole fields lovely and inviolate,- Me down in the fetor of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roethke/the-indignity-of-it-with-everything-blooming-above-me-lilies-pale/) [Theodore Roethke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roethke/) > [The black man will inherit the earth; he will resume control, taking back the position he held centuries ago when the white devil was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/the-black-man-will-inherit-the-earth-he-will-resume-control-taking/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [One feels like crawling on all fours after reading your work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/one-feels-like-crawling-on-all-fours-after-reading-your-work/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“Because I care about human beings, I want them to be free to do what is right for them. Isn't that more important than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crimethinc/because-i-care-about-human-beings-i-want-them-to-be-free-to-do-what/) [CrimethInc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crimethinc/) > [Freedom is a dangerous intoxicant and very few people can tolerate it in any quantity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/freedom-is-a-dangerous-intoxicant-and-very-few-people-can-tolerate-it/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [And it’s not just that ‘we all need somebody to lean on’; recent work on giving support shows that caring for others is often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/and-it-s-not-just-that-we-all-need-somebody-to-lean-on-recent-work-on/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [Learning is a good thing, but unless it's tempered by faith and a love of freedom, it can be very dangerous indeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kengor/learning-is-a-good-thing-but-unless-it-s-tempered-by-faith-and-a-love/) [Paul Kengor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kengor/) > [“freedom is dangerous. If you follow it too willingly it threatens to pull you into the air; if you give it up too wholly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/freedom-is-dangerous-if-you-follow-it-too-willingly-it-threatens-to/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [“Too much freedom is dangerous to those who cannot cope with the responsibilities that accompany independence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/too-much-freedom-is-dangerous-to-those-who-cannot-cope-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It is a simple truth that the human mind can face better the most oppressive government, the most rigid restrictions, than the awful prospect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/it-is-a-simple-truth-that-the-human-mind-can-face-better-the-most/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [“Uncontrolled freedom is dangerous”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-vipul-patel/uncontrolled-freedom-is-dangerous/) Dr Vipul Patel > [“An uneducated people don't know what freedom is for that It is very dangerous when uneducated voters are allowed to vote, they will affect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beta-metani-marashi/an-uneducated-people-don-t-know-what-freedom-is-for-that-it-is-very/) [Beta Metani' Marashi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beta-metani-marashi/) > [“Freedom is dangerous but it's precious, too. You can't just throw it away or let it slip away. You can't sell it for bread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/freedom-is-dangerous-but-it-s-precious-too-you-can-t-just-throw-it/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) ## More by Isabel Paterson > [“Newton was asked as a mathematician, not as a moralist. He replied 'Gentlemen, in applied mathematics, you must describe your unit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/newton-was-asked-as-a-mathematician-not-as-a-moralist-he-replied/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [But when the good people do know, as they certainly do, that three million persons (at the least estimate) were starved to death in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/but-when-the-good-people-do-know-as-they-certainly-do-that-three/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“But in a free enterprise economy, increased production increases the number of jobs. It might be said that one job creates another, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/but-in-a-free-enterprise-economy-increased-production-increases-the/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“If Charles F. Kettering or Thomas Alva Edison or Henry Ford had been put to work digging ditches under duress, one could calculate approximately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/if-charles-f-kettering-or-thomas-alva-edison-or-henry-ford-had-been/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Every politically controlled educational system will inculcate the doctrine of state supremacy sooner or later. . . . Once that doctrine has been accepted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/every-politically-controlled-educational-system-will-inculcate-the/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Nothing increases the number of jobs so rapidly as labor-saving machinery, because it releases wants theretofore unknown, by permitting leisure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/nothing-increases-the-number-of-jobs-so-rapidly-as-labor-saving/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [If Americans should now turn back, submit again to slavery, it would be a betrayal so base the human race might better perish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/if-americans-should-now-turn-back-submit-again-to-slavery-it-would-be/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“The intrinsic nature of the power authorized was so little realized that this was called "free education," the most absolute contradiction of facts by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/the-intrinsic-nature-of-the-power-authorized-was-so-little-realized/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Right now it is a terrible thing to be a rugged individualist; but we don't know what else to be except a feeble nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/right-now-it-is-a-terrible-thing-to-be-a-rugged-individualist-but-we/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“Why did the humanitarian philosophy of eighteenth century Europe usher in the Reign of Terror? It did not happen by chance; it followed from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/why-did-the-humanitarian-philosophy-of-eighteenth-century-europe/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [There can be no greater stretch of arbitrary power than is required to seize children from their parents, teach them whatever the authorities decree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/there-can-be-no-greater-stretch-of-arbitrary-power-than-is-required/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/most-of-the-harm-in-the-world-is-done-by-good-people-and-not-by/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/most-of-the-harm-in-the-world-is-done-by-good-people-and-not-by-2/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [The craving for power is in itself a sign of inferior abilities and unfitness for responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/the-craving-for-power-is-in-itself-a-sign-of-inferior-abilities-and/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [The humanitarian in theory is the terrorist in action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/the-humanitarian-in-theory-is-the-terrorist-in-action/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) [Explore all 62 Isabel Paterson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) ## More Crawling quotes > [Hollywood gives a young girl the aura of one giant, self-contained orgy farm, its inhabitants dedicated to crawling into every pair of pants they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-lake/hollywood-gives-a-young-girl-the-aura-of-one-giant-self-contained/) [Veronica Lake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-lake/) > [“Crawling eldritch horrors don’t get planning permission unless they’re Trump’s hairpiece.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/crawling-eldritch-horrors-don-t-get-planning-permission-unless-they/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [Imagine an eye unruled by man-made laws of perspective, an eye unprejudiced by compositional logic, an eye which does not respond to the name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-brakhage/imagine-an-eye-unruled-by-man-made-laws-of-perspective-an-eye/) [Stan Brakhage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-brakhage/) > [It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank clothed with many plants of many kinds with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/it-is-interesting-to-contemplate-an-entangled-bank-clothed-with-many/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [WHEN AUGUSTUS CAME OUT on the porch the blue pigs were eating a rattlesnake—not a very big one. It had probably just been crawling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-mcmurtry/when-augustus-came-out-on-the-porch-the-blue-pigs-were-eating-a/) [Larry McMurtry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-mcmurtry/) > [How strange and wonderful is our home, our earth, with its swirling vaporous atmosphere, its flowing and frozen liquids, its trembling plants, its creeping,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/how-strange-and-wonderful-is-our-home-our-earth-with-its-swirling/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“I felt like crawling off and finding a way to kick myself in the rear. One twist of the leg, might not be too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lia-habel/i-felt-like-crawling-off-and-finding-a-way-to-kick-myself-in-the-rear/) [Lia Habel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lia-habel/) > [Zombies smell worse than anything you can imagine if you haven’t been hunting things on the dark side of the world. It’s a ripe,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lilith-saintcrow/zombies-smell-worse-than-anything-you-can-imagine-if-you-haven-t-been/) [Lilith Saintcrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lilith-saintcrow/) > [I think back to the day I drove Michelle and a newborn Malia home from the hospital nearly 11 years ago - crawling along,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-think-back-to-the-day-i-drove-michelle-and-a-newborn-malia-home/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream. That's my nightmare. Crawling, slithering, along the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlon-brando/i-watched-a-snail-crawl-along-the-edge-of-a-straight-razor-that-s-my/) [Marlon Brando](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlon-brando/) > [No one hid their interest when I walked into the room. I'm not sure if it was the news about Boo or my general…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-johnson/no-one-hid-their-interest-when-i-walked-into-the-room-i-m-not-sure-if/) [Maureen Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-johnson/) > [“Now,” the Lopen said to her, “you gotta have two hands to properly crawl. I came up with my own version, sure, when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/now-the-lopen-said-to-her-you-gotta-have-two-hands-to-properly-crawl/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [To find anything comparable with our forthcoming ventures into space, we must go back far beyond Columbus, far beyond Odysseus-far, indeed, beyond the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/to-find-anything-comparable-with-our-forthcoming-ventures-into-space/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [The world is crawling with authors touring now. They're like performance artists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/the-world-is-crawling-with-authors-touring-now-they-re-like/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [How many colors are there in a field of grass to the crawling baby unaware of 'Green'?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-brakhage/how-many-colors-are-there-in-a-field-of-grass-to-the-crawling-baby/) [Stan Brakhage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-brakhage/) Browse all 236 Crawling quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Freedom is dangerous. 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