--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The highest and most fruitful form of…" description: "\"“The highest and most fruitful form of human freedom is found in accepting, even more than in dominating. We show the greatness of our freedom when we ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/jacques-philippe-12517_freedom_the-highest-and-most-fruitful-form-of-hu_2702571.jpg" --- # The highest and most fruitful form of human freedom is… ![“The highest and most fruitful form of human freedom is found in accepting, even more than in dominating. We show the greatness of our freedom when we transform reality, but still more when we accept it trustingly as it is given to us day after day. It is natural and easy to go along with pleasant…” quote by Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/jacques-philippe-12517_freedom_the-highest-and-most-fruitful-form-of-hu_2702571.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/jacques-philippe-12517_freedom_the-highest-and-most-fruitful-form-of-hu_2702571.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/jacques-philippe-12517_freedom_the-highest-and-most-fruitful-form-of-hu_2702571.jpg) > ““The highest and most fruitful form of human freedom is found in accepting, even more than in dominating. We show the greatness of our freedom when we transform reality, but still more when we accept it trustingly as it is given to us day after day. It is natural and easy to go along with pleasant situations that arise without our choosing them. It becomes a problem, obviously, when things are unpleasant, go against us, or make us suffer. But it is precisely then that, in order to become truly free, we are often called to choose to accept what we did not want, and even what we would not have wanted at any price. There is a paradoxical law of human life here: one cannot become truly free unless one accepts not always being free! To achieve true interior freedom we must train ourselves to accept, peacefully and willingly, plenty of things that seem to contradict our freedom. This means consenting to our personal limitations, our weaknesses, our powerlessness, this or that situation that life imposes on us, and so on. We find it difficult to do this, because we feel a natural revulsion for situations we cannot control. But the fact is that the situations that really make us grow are precisely those we do not control.”” [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True freedom comes from accepting reality, especially its hardships, rather than trying to dominate it. **In simple terms:** Freedom is accepting what we cannot change. Key Takeaway Embrace constraints to grow. Themes acceptance freedom growth paradox resilience Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal setbacks - health challenges - career obstacles - relationship conflicts Key Concepts existentialism psychology stoicism Questions to Reflect On - How can acceptance empower action? - When does acceptance become complacency? A Different Perspective Acceptance may feel like surrender, risking passivity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Human freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-freedom/) [Human life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-life/) ## Related quotes > [“The views were immensely wide. Everything that you saw made for greatness and freedom, and unequealled nobility.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-blixen/the-views-were-immensely-wide-everything-that-you-saw-made-for/) [Karen Blixen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-blixen/) > [The key to freedom is accepting my own autonomy as an individual, and respecting the autonomy of other individuals, with all of what that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-ward-richardson/the-key-to-freedom-is-accepting-my-own-autonomy-as-an-individual-and/) Benjamin Ward Richardson > [There is only one decision you need to make: You are either working at your Freedom or you are accepting your bondage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/there-is-only-one-decision-you-need-to-make-you-are-either-working-at/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [“When is a market free?" 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It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-hamilton/the-senseless-killing-of-20-children-and-their-teachers-and-principal/) [Adam Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-hamilton/) > [The acceptance of all that God has given us and the willingness to let it go - to give it back to him at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keating/the-acceptance-of-all-that-god-has-given-us-and-the-willingness-to/) [Thomas Keating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keating/) > [Our society is illuminated by the spiritual insights of the Hebrew prophets. America and Israel have a common love of human freedom and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/our-society-is-illuminated-by-the-spiritual-insights-of-the-hebrew/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Freedom is one of the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit. People, worldwide, hunger for the right of self-determination, for those inalienable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/freedom-is-one-of-the-deepest-and-noblest-aspirations-of-the-human/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [“Having placed himself on the level of the world for humans to choose between, God nevertheless stipulates that a choice must be made, human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-a-tietjen/having-placed-himself-on-the-level-of-the-world-for-humans-to-choose/) Mark A. Tietjen > [“It is already the fashion to diminish Eliot by calling him derivative, the mouthpiece of Pound, and so forth; and yet if one wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-kermode/it-is-already-the-fashion-to-diminish-eliot-by-calling-him-derivative/) [Frank Kermode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-kermode/) > [“Since its origins, socialism has meant the liberation of working people from exploitation. As the Marxist theoretician Anton Pannekoek observed, “this goal is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/since-its-origins-socialism-has-meant-the-liberation-of-working/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I am certain that, however great the hardships and the trials which loom ahead, our America will endure and the cause of human freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cordell-hull/i-am-certain-that-however-great-the-hardships-and-the-trials-which/) [Cordell Hull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cordell-hull/) > [Further conceive, I beg, that a stone, while continuing in motion, should be capable of thinking and knowing, that it is endeavoring, as far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/further-conceive-i-beg-that-a-stone-while-continuing-in-motion-should/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Human freedom involves our capacity to pause between the stimulus and response and, in that pause, to choose the one response toward which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/human-freedom-involves-our-capacity-to-pause-between-the-stimulus-and/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) ## More by Jacques Philippe > [“no inquietarse jamás y no alterarse por nada; olvidar el pasado; vivir como si el futuro no existiera; vivir para Jesús en el momento…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-philippe/no-inquietarse-jam-s-y-no-alterarse-por-nada-olvidar-el-pasado-vivir/) [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) > [“Mental prayer is the source of true happiness. Whoever practices it faithfully will not fail to “taste and see that the Lord is good”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-philippe/mental-prayer-is-the-source-of-true-happiness-whoever-practices-it/) [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) > [“Ultimately, we can really forgive people only because Christ rose from the dead; his Resurrection is the guarantee that God can cure every wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-philippe/ultimately-we-can-really-forgive-people-only-because-christ-rose-from/) [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) > [“Faith and hope are provisional; they exist only for this earth and will pass away. In heaven, faith will be replaced by sight, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-philippe/faith-and-hope-are-provisional-they-exist-only-for-this-earth-and/) [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) > [“God acts in the peace of one’s soul. It is not by our own efforts that we succeed in liberating ourselves from sin; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-philippe/god-acts-in-the-peace-of-one-s-soul-it-is-not-by-our-own-efforts-that/) [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) > [“The more God is at the center of our lives, and the more we expect everything from him and him alone, the better chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-philippe/the-more-god-is-at-the-center-of-our-lives-and-the-more-we-expect/) [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) > [“There are two things to be aware of if the fight against evil inclinations is to have any chance of success. First, our efforts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-philippe/there-are-two-things-to-be-aware-of-if-the-fight-against-evil/) [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) > [“our inability to love comes most often from our lack of faith and our lack of hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-philippe/our-inability-to-love-comes-most-often-from-our-lack-of-faith-and-our/) [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) > [“one passion can only be cured by another—a misplaced love by a greater love, wrong behavior by right behavior that makes provisions for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-philippe/one-passion-can-only-be-cured-by-another-a-misplaced-love-by-a/) [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) > [“There are many souls who think they do not have prayer, yet they have much; and, on the contrary, others who think they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-philippe/there-are-many-souls-who-think-they-do-not-have-prayer-yet-they-have/) [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) > [“The sign of spiritual progress is not so much never falling as it is being able to lift oneself up quickly after one falls.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-philippe/the-sign-of-spiritual-progress-is-not-so-much-never-falling-as-it-is/) [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) > [“Learning to give and receive freely requires a long, laborious process of re-educating our minds, which have been conditioned by thousands of years of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-philippe/learning-to-give-and-receive-freely-requires-a-long-laborious-process/) [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) > [“Even in the natural order, all genuine love is a victory of weakness. Loving is not dominating or possessing, imposing oneself on the person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-philippe/even-in-the-natural-order-all-genuine-love-is-a-victory-of-weakness/) [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) > [“A necessary condition for interior peace, then, is what we might call goodwill. We could also call it purity of heart. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-philippe/a-necessary-condition-for-interior-peace-then-is-what-we-might-call/) [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) > [“Resentment attacks our vital forces and does us much harm. When someone has made us suffer, our tendency is to keep the memory of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-philippe/resentment-attacks-our-vital-forces-and-does-us-much-harm-when/) [Jacques Philippe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) [Explore all 23 Jacques Philippe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-philippe/) ## More Freedom quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/) [Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/elections-belong-to-the-people-it-s-their-decision-if-they-decide-to/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [If we gave up our freedom as the price of security, we would no longer be the great nation that we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/if-we-gave-up-our-freedom-as-the-price-of-security-we-would-no-longer/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [We live in the greatest country in the world because of the veterans who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom and the security…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-husted/we-live-in-the-greatest-country-in-the-world-because-of-the-veterans/) [Jon Husted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-husted/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [“No one was more surprised than I to realize that my newfound freedom had been purchased by giving up on eternity and settling for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-jessop/no-one-was-more-surprised-than-i-to-realize-that-my-newfound-freedom/) [Carolyn Jessop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-jessop/) > [“In a world of fixed future, there can be no right or wrong. Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-a-world-of-fixed-future-there-can-be-no-right-or-wrong-right-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“In any case, white people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who profited by this theft every hour that they lived,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/in-any-case-white-people-who-had-robbed-black-people-of-their-liberty/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“I have to blame myself for not finding any way of reaching him, but I can't feel that either Ruth or I had anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-have-to-blame-myself-for-not-finding-any-way-of-reaching-him-but-i/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [“It breaks my heart. 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I'm happy on the second tier, where I have autonomy on a professional level but I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-reece/i-don-t-want-to-be-famous-famous-i-m-happy-on-the-second-tier-where-i/) [Gabrielle Reece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-reece/) [Browse all 30,110 Freedom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The highest and most fruitful form of human freedom is found in accepting, even more than in dominating. We show the greatness of our freedom when we transform reality, but still more when we accept it trustingly as it is given to us day after day. It is natural and easy to go along with pleasant situations that arise without our choosing them. It becomes a problem, obviously, when things are unpleasant, go against us, or make us suffer. But it is precisely then that, in order to become truly free, we are often called to choose to accept what we did not want, and even what we would not have wanted at any price. There is a paradoxical law of human life here: one cannot become truly free unless one accepts not always being free! To achieve true interior freedom we must train ourselves to accept, peacefully and willingly, plenty of things that seem to contradict our freedom. This means consenting to our personal limitations, our weaknesses, our powerlessness, this or that situation that life imposes on us, and so on. We find it difficult to do this, because we feel a natural revulsion for situations we cannot control. 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