--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They know that ten heads lopped off will…" description: "\"“They know that ten heads lopped off will destroy them, but we are a free people; we have as many heads as we have people, and in a time of need leader..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/907/john-steinbeck-71_free-people_they-know-that-ten-heads-lopped-off-will_472853.jpg" --- # They know that ten heads lopped off will destroy them, but… ![“They know that ten heads lopped off will destroy them, but we are a free people; we have as many heads as we have people, and in a time of need leaders pop up among us like mushrooms.” quote by John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/907/john-steinbeck-71_free-people_they-know-that-ten-heads-lopped-off-will_472853.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/907/john-steinbeck-71_free-people_they-know-that-ten-heads-lopped-off-will_472853.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/907/john-steinbeck-71_free-people_they-know-that-ten-heads-lopped-off-will_472853.jpg) > ““They know that ten heads lopped off will destroy them, but we are a free people; we have as many heads as we have people, and in a time of need leaders pop up among us like mushrooms.”” [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When oppressive leaders are removed, new leaders emerge organically from the people, especially in crises. **In simple terms:** People create new leaders when needed. Key Takeaway Empower communities to recognize and support grassroots leadership. Themes leadership resilience community power grassroots Mood determined hopeful cautious Type observational inspirational When to use this quote - social movements - crisis response - local governance - activism - community organizing Key Concepts political dynamics collective agency emergent authority Questions to Reflect On - How can communities ensure emerging leaders are effective? - What safeguards prevent harmful pop‑up leadership? A Different Perspective New leaders may lack experience or cohesion, leading to fragmentation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Free people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-people/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) ## Related quotes > ['I know,' said Winter, 'but they don't know.' And he went on with a thought he had been having. 'A time-minded people,' he said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-know-said-winter-but-they-don-t-know-and-he-went-on-with-a-thought/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [ Five or six hundred \[aristocratic\] heads lopped off would have assured you repose and happiness; a false humanity has restrained your arm and suspended… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-marat/five-or-six-hundred-aristocratic-heads-lopped-off-would-have-assured/) [Jean-Paul Marat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-marat/) > [“She told me about a group of people in Guinea who carry the sky on their heads. They are the people of Creation. Strong,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwidge-danticat/she-told-me-about-a-group-of-people-in-guinea-who-carry-the-sky-on/) [Edwidge Danticat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwidge-danticat/) > [You'll never know what's happening inside the heads of other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etgar-keret/you-ll-never-know-what-s-happening-inside-the-heads-of-other-people/) [Etgar Keret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etgar-keret/) > [“I shake my head at my friend. “Not only is they lines, but you know good as I do where them lines be drawn.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-stockett/i-shake-my-head-at-my-friend-not-only-is-they-lines-but-you-know-good/) [Kathryn Stockett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-stockett/) > [“God help us, if ever in this great country we turn our heads while people who have not had fair trials are executed…” -Judge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grisham/god-help-us-if-ever-in-this-great-country-we-turn-our-heads-while/) [John Grisham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grisham/) > [“They still need to keep their bellies full, but now they’re trying to figure out how to do it without working—and that’s the point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/they-still-need-to-keep-their-bellies-full-but-now-they-re-trying-to/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Most directors have little lists in their heads of people they really want to work with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-parker/most-directors-have-little-lists-in-their-heads-of-people-they-really/) [Alan Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-parker/) > [The military is very constitutionalist, and I have my faith in them and in the cooler heads of the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-macapagal-arroyo/the-military-is-very-constitutionalist-and-i-have-my-faith-in-them/) [Gloria Macapagal Arroyo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-macapagal-arroyo/) > [He has one of those heads people think about cutting off." “Yes. He does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-huston/he-has-one-of-those-heads-people-think-about-cutting-off-yes-he-does/) [Charlie Huston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-huston/) > [Liberals like people with their heads, radicals like people with both their heads and their hearts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/liberals-like-people-with-their-heads-radicals-like-people-with-both/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [“Politics had eaten away at people's heads until they in turn had begun to devour one another.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basma-abdel-aziz/politics-had-eaten-away-at-people-s-heads-until-they-in-turn-had/) [Basma Abdel Aziz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basma-abdel-aziz/) > [“Other people's heads are too wretched a place for true happiness to have its seat.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/other-people-s-heads-are-too-wretched-a-place-for-true-happiness-to/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [In any industry, but more so in music, people get into their heads sometimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dolmayan/in-any-industry-but-more-so-in-music-people-get-into-their-heads/) [John Dolmayan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dolmayan/) > [There are certain people whose heads are on a different plane than others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-payton/there-are-certain-people-whose-heads-are-on-a-different-plane-than/) [Sean Payton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-payton/) ## More by John Steinbeck > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Prayer never brought in no side-meat. Takes a shoat to bring in pork.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/prayer-never-brought-in-no-side-meat-takes-a-shoat-to-bring-in-pork/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“And now submarines are armed with mass murder, our silly, only way of deterring mass murder.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/and-now-submarines-are-armed-with-mass-murder-our-silly-only-way-of/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“I’d think there are degrees of greatness,” Adam said. “I don’t think so,” said Samuel. “That would be like saying there is a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-d-think-there-are-degrees-of-greatness-adam-said-i-don-t-think-so/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“He was forever inventing a new way of doing an old thing and doing it better and quicker, but he never in his whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/he-was-forever-inventing-a-new-way-of-doing-an-old-thing-and-doing-it/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“You come back a changed man. Samuel, you don’t change him. He changes you. I can see the look of him in your face.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/you-come-back-a-changed-man-samuel-you-don-t-change-him-he-changes/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I find out of long experience that I admire all nations and hate all governments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-find-out-of-long-experience-that-i-admire-all-nations-and-hate-all/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [At about 10 o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows and in and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/at-about-10-o-clock-in-the-morning-the-sun-threw-a-bright-dust-laden/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I have noticed that there is no dissatisfaction like that of the rich. Feed a man, clothe him, put him in a good house,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-have-noticed-that-there-is-no-dissatisfaction-like-that-of-the-rich/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Who in his mind has not probe the dark water?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/who-in-his-mind-has-not-probe-the-dark-water/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Sometimes, a lie is told in kindness. I don't believe it ever works kindly. The quick pain of truth can pass away, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/sometimes-a-lie-is-told-in-kindness-i-don-t-believe-it-ever-works/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [People like you to be something, preferably what they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/people-like-you-to-be-something-preferably-what-they-are/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Suddenly he knew joy and sorrow felted into one fabric. Courage and fear were one thing too. He found that he had started to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/suddenly-he-knew-joy-and-sorrow-felted-into-one-fabric-courage-and/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I am writing this from what we Americans call Yurrp. In Yurrp writers are taken as seriously as Lana Turner's legs are in America…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-am-writing-this-from-what-we-americans-call-yurrp-in-yurrp-writers/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I write because I like to write. I find joy in the texture and tone and rhythm of words. It is a satisfaction like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-write-because-i-like-to-write-i-find-joy-in-the-texture-and-tone/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) [Explore all 1,589 John Steinbeck quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) ## More Free people quotes > [What begins as a Utopian vision, always - always - ends in bloodshed. Because you have to force a utopia on a free people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-gutfeld/what-begins-as-a-utopian-vision-always-always-ends-in-bloodshed/) [Greg Gutfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-gutfeld/) > [ \[T\]he tax code has been piling up, year after year, a symbol of everything gone wrong in America, of arrogant rulers and lost freedom,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-armey/t-he-tax-code-has-been-piling-up-year-after-year-a-symbol-of/) [Dick Armey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-armey/) > [After the revolution the borders were left open. Pens were free, expression was free, political parties were free. Even if these people are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayatollah-khomeini/after-the-revolution-the-borders-were-left-open-pens-were-free/) [Ayatollah Khomeini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayatollah-khomeini/) > [The lessons of the First Amendment are as urgent in the modern world as the 18th Century when it was written. One timeless lesson…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-kennedy/the-lessons-of-the-first-amendment-are-as-urgent-in-the-modern-world/) [Anthony Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-kennedy/) > [Knowledge-full, unfettered knowledge of its own heritage, of freedom's enemies, of the whole world of men and ideas-this knowledge is a free people's surest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/knowledge-full-unfettered-knowledge-of-its-own-heritage-of-freedom-s/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [Can't react every time you're insulted. Free people absorb destructive things and refuse to be destroyed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/can-t-react-every-time-you-re-insulted-free-people-absorb-destructive/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [“If a free people is going to be reproduced, it will require watering and revivifying and owning anew older traditions and awaking the curiosity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-sasse/if-a-free-people-is-going-to-be-reproduced-it-will-require-watering/) [Ben Sasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-sasse/) > [“But nothing's really free, is it? People always make you pay one way or another.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-lotter/but-nothing-s-really-free-is-it-people-always-make-you-pay-one-way-or/) [Jane Lotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-lotter/) > [Happy are all free peoples, too strong to be dispossessed. But blessed are those among nations who dare to be strong for the rest!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-barrett-browning/happy-are-all-free-peoples-too-strong-to-be-dispossessed-but-blessed/) [Elizabeth Barrett Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-barrett-browning/) > [It is inconceivable that the God who gives Himself in His Son to save us, should have created some people ordained to evil and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/it-is-inconceivable-that-the-god-who-gives-himself-in-his-son-to-save/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [The old question still remains: Can a free people restrain crime without sacrificing fundamental liberties and a heritage of compassion?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-r-ford/the-old-question-still-remains-can-a-free-people-restrain-crime/) [Gerald R. Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-r-ford/) > [Only free people have an incentive to be virtuous. Only people who bear the consequences of their own acts will care about those consequences…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-browne/only-free-people-have-an-incentive-to-be-virtuous-only-people-who/) [Harry Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-browne/) > [Without freedom there will be no firearms among the people; without firearms among the people there will not long be freedom. Certainly there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-knox/without-freedom-there-will-be-no-firearms-among-the-people-without/) Neal Knox > [A free people ought...to be armed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/a-free-people-ought-to-be-armed/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [Hemans gallows ought to be the fate of all such ambitious men who would involve their country in civil wars, and all the evils…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-jackson/hemans-gallows-ought-to-be-the-fate-of-all-such-ambitious-men-who/) [Andrew Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-jackson/) [Browse all 298 Free people quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-people/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“They know that ten heads lopped off will destroy them, but we are a free people; we have as many heads as we have people, and in a time of need leaders pop up among us like mushrooms.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Steinbeck" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/they-know-that-ten-heads-lopped-off-will-destroy-them-but-we-are-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Free people" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/they-know-that-ten-heads-lopped-off-will-destroy-them-but-we-are-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/907/john-steinbeck-71_free-people_they-know-that-ten-heads-lopped-off-will_472853.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/907/john-steinbeck-71_free-people_they-know-that-ten-heads-lopped-off-will_472853.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/907/john-steinbeck-71_free-people_they-know-that-ten-heads-lopped-off-will_472853.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“They know that ten heads lopped off will destroy them, but we are a free people; we have as many heads as we…” — John Steinbeck", "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": "John Steinbeck", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“They know that ten heads lopped...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/they-know-that-ten-heads-lopped-off-will-destroy-them-but-we-are-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/they-know-that-ten-heads-lopped-off-will-destroy-them-but-we-are-a/#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 } } ] } ```