--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Governments oppress people, but so do…" description: "\"Governments oppress people, but so do mobs. You need to avoid both to make progress.\" — Jaron Lanier" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75a/jaron-lanier-2241_government_governments-oppress-people-but-so-do-mob_1958528.png" --- # Governments oppress people, but so do mobs. You need to… ![“Governments oppress people, but so do mobs. You need to avoid both to make progress.” quote by Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75a/jaron-lanier-2241_government_governments-oppress-people-but-so-do-mob_1958528.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75a/jaron-lanier-2241_government_governments-oppress-people-but-so-do-mob_1958528.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75a/jaron-lanier-2241_government_governments-oppress-people-but-so-do-mob_1958528.png) > “Governments oppress people, but so do mobs. You need to avoid both to make progress.” [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Both governments and mobs can oppress; avoiding both is essential for progress. **In simple terms:** Avoid oppression from any source. Key Takeaway Seek balanced freedom. Themes politics freedom oppression Mood critical determined Type political philosophical When to use this quote - activism - policy reform - community organizing - digital rights Key Concepts authoritarianism collective action Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards protect against oppression? - How can individuals resist both forces? A Different Perspective Avoiding both may be impractical. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Governments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/governments/) [Governments Oppress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/governments-oppress-3218990/) [Mobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mobs/) [Mobs Need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mobs-need-3218991/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Oppress People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oppress-people-1721268/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) ## Related quotes > [You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/you-cannot-oppress-the-people-who-are-not-afraid-anymore/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [Laws that oppress people have no moral authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-stallman/laws-that-oppress-people-have-no-moral-authority/) [Richard Stallman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-stallman/) > [Considering the natural lust for power so inherent in man, I fear the thirst of power will prevail to oppress the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mason/considering-the-natural-lust-for-power-so-inherent-in-man-i-fear-the/) [George Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mason/) > [It's difficult to oppress people who have a sense of identity and unity, he says. Our struggle is about being seen as human beings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-alvarado/it-s-difficult-to-oppress-people-who-have-a-sense-of-identity-and/) [Pablo Alvarado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-alvarado/) > [Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/once-social-change-begins-it-cannot-be-reversed-you-cannot-uneducate/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [When you oppress people either by gender, by race, by sexual orientation, when you do that and the doors become ajar, they will fly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billie-jean-king/when-you-oppress-people-either-by-gender-by-race-by-sexual/) [Billie Jean King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billie-jean-king/) > [We oppress people, we make our victims small wherever they are, whether they are a black girl in a rural community in, say, America…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roma-tearne/we-oppress-people-we-make-our-victims-small-wherever-they-are-whether/) [Roma Tearne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roma-tearne/) > [“We are all entitled to our opinions and religious beliefs, but we are not entitled to make shit up and then use the shit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/we-are-all-entitled-to-our-opinions-and-religious-beliefs-but-we-are/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [I think that fear of the mob, the expectation that people, particularly poor and nonwhite people become mobs almost automatically in the absence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/i-think-that-fear-of-the-mob-the-expectation-that-people-particularly/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [The psychology of committees is a special case of the psychology of mobs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celia-green/the-psychology-of-committees-is-a-special-case-of-the-psychology-of/) [Celia Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celia-green/) > [“You can't fight hatred with hatred and expect anyone to listen to you. You can only try to lessen it with humor, wit, truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/you-can-t-fight-hatred-with-hatred-and-expect-anyone-to-listen-to-you/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [“Cowards are always much more dangerous than heroes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-conrad/cowards-are-always-much-more-dangerous-than-heroes/) [Lance Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-conrad/) > [“the wisdom of crowds is sometimes overwhelmed by the madness of mobs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-w-lo/the-wisdom-of-crowds-is-sometimes-overwhelmed-by-the-madness-of-mobs/) [Andrew W. Lo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-w-lo/) > [“It's true," says Michael. "Dicken's novels came out in monthly installments. People couldn't wait for the next chapter to arrive. Mobs would gather at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-acampora/it-s-true-says-michael-dicken-s-novels-came-out-in-monthly/) [Paul Acampora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-acampora/) > [The punishment online mobs can mete out is often disproportionate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeynep-tufekci/the-punishment-online-mobs-can-mete-out-is-often-disproportionate/) [Zeynep Tufekci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeynep-tufekci/) ## More by Jaron Lanier > [If we allow our self-congratulatory adoration of technology to distract us from our own contact with each other, then somehow the original agenda has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/if-we-allow-our-self-congratulatory-adoration-of-technology-to/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [Individual web pages as they first appeared in the early 1990s had the flavour of person-hood. MySpace preserved some of that flavour, though a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/individual-web-pages-as-they-first-appeared-in-the-early-1990s-had/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [Style used to be an interaction between the human soul and tools that were limiting. In the digital era, it will have to come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/style-used-to-be-an-interaction-between-the-human-soul-and-tools-that/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [We should talk about the ultimate cause of war. It's a question we should never stop asking, because if we do, there's a chance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/we-should-talk-about-the-ultimate-cause-of-war-it-s-a-question-we/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [There is nothing more gray, stultifying, or dreary than life lived inside the confines of a theory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/there-is-nothing-more-gray-stultifying-or-dreary-than-life-lived/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [“There are at least two ways to believe in the idea of quality. You can believe there's something ineffable going on within the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/there-are-at-least-two-ways-to-believe-in-the-idea-of-quality-you-can/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [An intelligent person feels guilty for downloading music without paying the musician, but they use this free-open-culture ideology to cover it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/an-intelligent-person-feels-guilty-for-downloading-music-without/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [“What these critics forget is that printing presses in themselves provide no guarantee of an enlightened outcome. People, not machines, made the Renaissance. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/what-these-critics-forget-is-that-printing-presses-in-themselves/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [There were studies that asked people in different cultures to draw pictures of their enemies, and the pictures all looked remarkably the same. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/there-were-studies-that-asked-people-in-different-cultures-to-draw/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [“Zombies are familiar characters in philosophical thought experiments. They are like people in every way except they have no internal experience… If there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/zombies-are-familiar-characters-in-philosophical-thought-experiments/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [We're losing track of the vastness of the potential for computer science. We really have to revive the beautiful intellectual joy of it, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/we-re-losing-track-of-the-vastness-of-the-potential-for-computer/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [Of all the things you can spend a lot of money on, the only things you expect to fail frequently are software and medicine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/of-all-the-things-you-can-spend-a-lot-of-money-on-the-only-things-you/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [ At the turn of the \[21st\] century it was really Sergey Brin at Google who just had the thought of, well, if we give… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/at-the-turn-of-the-21st-century-it-was-really-sergey-brin-at-google/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [The mass culture of childhood right now is astonishingly technical. Little kids know their Unix path punctuation so they can get around the Web,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/the-mass-culture-of-childhood-right-now-is-astonishingly-technical/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [Wal-Mart impoverished its own customer base. Google is facing exactly the same issue long-term, although not yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/wal-mart-impoverished-its-own-customer-base-google-is-facing-exactly/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) [Explore all 173 Jaron Lanier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) ## More Government quotes > [We could form a government of national unity fighting corruption. The ordinary Afghan is sick and tired of it, because it's she or he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashraf-ghani/we-could-form-a-government-of-national-unity-fighting-corruption-the/) [Ashraf Ghani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashraf-ghani/) > [For the Scottish government, the practice of having meetings in different parts of the country is well established, but for the U.K. government, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-sturgeon/for-the-scottish-government-the-practice-of-having-meetings-in/) [Nicola Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-sturgeon/) > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [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/) > [Right now we're concerned about budget. Right now we're concerned about the prospect of interest rate rise. We're concerned about government corruption, government handing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amity-shlaes/right-now-we-re-concerned-about-budget-right-now-we-re-concerned/) [Amity Shlaes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amity-shlaes/) > [One of the worst things to come out of the Consumer Protection Board's misleading claims is the impression that government resources are to hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-lesko/one-of-the-worst-things-to-come-out-of-the-consumer-protection-board/) [Matthew Lesko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-lesko/) > [It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised - and it should be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/it-is-afraid-of-an-informed-angry-public-demanding-the-constitutional/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [Louisiana's spicy, colorful politics have saddled our state with a reputation for tolerating lax ethical standards in government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kennedy/louisiana-s-spicy-colorful-politics-have-saddled-our-state-with-a/) [John Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kennedy/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) [Greg Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-perry/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [He is almost a statesman. He lies well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/he-is-almost-a-statesman-he-lies-well/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [If you believe in democracy, why shouldn't you know what the government is doing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/if-you-believe-in-democracy-why-shouldn-t-you-know-what-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I mean those people who are interested in good government will certainly contribute in order to make certain there's some counter-balance to those whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-breyer/i-mean-those-people-who-are-interested-in-good-government-will/) [Stephen Breyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-breyer/) > [We can't have a government that will collapse in three months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-varadkar/we-can-t-have-a-government-that-will-collapse-in-three-months/) [Leo Varadkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-varadkar/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) [Browse all 21,248 Government quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Governments oppress people, but so do mobs. You need to avoid both to make progress.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jaron Lanier" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/governments-oppress-people-but-so-do-mobs-you-need-to-avoid-both-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Government" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/governments-oppress-people-but-so-do-mobs-you-need-to-avoid-both-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75a/jaron-lanier-2241_government_governments-oppress-people-but-so-do-mob_1958528.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75a/jaron-lanier-2241_government_governments-oppress-people-but-so-do-mob_1958528.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75a/jaron-lanier-2241_government_governments-oppress-people-but-so-do-mob_1958528.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Governments oppress people, but so do mobs. You need to avoid both to make progress.” — Jaron Lanier", "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": "Jaron Lanier", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Governments oppress people, but so do...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/governments-oppress-people-but-so-do-mobs-you-need-to-avoid-both-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/governments-oppress-people-but-so-do-mobs-you-need-to-avoid-both-to/#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 } } ] } ```