--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was necessary that millions of men in…" description: "\"“It was necessary that millions of men in whose hands lay the real power—the soldiers who fired, or transported provisions and guns—should consent to c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/609/leo-tolstoy-55_consent_it-was-necessary-that-millions-of-men-in_1906996.png" --- # It was necessary that millions of men in whose hands lay… ![“It was necessary that millions of men in whose hands lay the real power—the soldiers who fired, or transported provisions and guns—should consent to carry out the will of these weak individuals, and should have been induced to do so by an infinite number of diverse and complex causes.” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/609/leo-tolstoy-55_consent_it-was-necessary-that-millions-of-men-in_1906996.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/609/leo-tolstoy-55_consent_it-was-necessary-that-millions-of-men-in_1906996.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/609/leo-tolstoy-55_consent_it-was-necessary-that-millions-of-men-in_1906996.png) > ““It was necessary that millions of men in whose hands lay the real power—the soldiers who fired, or transported provisions and guns—should consent to carry out the will of these weak individuals, and should have been induced to do so by an infinite number of diverse and complex causes.”” [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Masses obey powerful elites because of countless intertwined motivations and pressures. **In simple terms:** People follow leaders due to many hidden reasons. Key Takeaway Recognize hidden influences on collective action. Themes power society psychology history agency Mood reflective critical thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - political movements - military obedience - public policy - social change Key Concepts social contract determinism collective behavior Questions to Reflect On - What unseen forces shape your decisions? - How can awareness of these causes empower change? A Different Perspective Complex causes can obscure individual responsibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consent/) [Guns Consent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guns-consent-2848011/) [Millions Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/millions-men-865545/) [Necessary Millions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/necessary-millions-261274/) [Soldiers Fired](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soldiers-fired-2848012/) ## Related quotes > [“It was necessary that millions of men in whose hands lay the real power -- the soldiers who fired, or transported provisions and guns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/it-was-necessary-that-millions-of-men-in-whose-hands-lay-the-real-2/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [If people should ever start to do only what is necessary millions would die of hunger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/if-people-should-ever-start-to-do-only-what-is-necessary-millions/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [“Millions of men, renouncing their human feelings and reason, had to go from west to east to slay their fellows, just as some centuries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/millions-of-men-renouncing-their-human-feelings-and-reason-had-to-go/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“the event had to take place simply because it had to take place. Millions of men, renouncing their human feelings and their reason, had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-event-had-to-take-place-simply-because-it-had-to-take-place/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Very few of our race can be said to be yet finished men. We still carry sticking to us some remains of the preceding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/very-few-of-our-race-can-be-said-to-be-yet-finished-men-we-still/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [From millions of men . . . one man must step forward who with apodictic force will form granite principles from the wavering idea-world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/from-millions-of-men-one-man-must-step-forward-who-with-apodictic/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [Every man is in his own person the whole human race without a detail lacking…I knew I should not find in any philosophy a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/every-man-is-in-his-own-person-the-whole-human-race-without-a-detail/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“A government of five hundred country attornies and obscure curates is not good for twenty-four millions of men, though it were chosen by eight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-government-of-five-hundred-country-attornies-and-obscure-curates-is/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [The organizer of industry who thinks he has 'made' himself and his business has found a whole social system ready to his hand in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-trelawny-hobhouse/the-organizer-of-industry-who-thinks-he-has-made-himself-and-his/) [Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-trelawny-hobhouse/) > [Hope has returned to the hearts of scores of millions of men and women, and with that hope there burns the flame of anger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/hope-has-returned-to-the-hearts-of-scores-of-millions-of-men-and/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [“The source of man is in man,and when a man dies,millions of men die in him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/the-source-of-man-is-in-man-and-when-a-man-dies-millions-of-men-die/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [If one who looked from a tower for a new star, watching for years the same part of the sky, suddenly saw it (quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-dunsany/if-one-who-looked-from-a-tower-for-a-new-star-watching-for-years-the/) [Lord Dunsany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-dunsany/) > [“Between 1945 and 1947 tens of millions of men, women and children were expelled from their countries in some of the biggest acts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-lowe/between-1945-and-1947-tens-of-millions-of-men-women-and-children-were/) [Keith Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-lowe/) > [Millions of men give all their energies, as well as their very souls, for the acquisition of gold. And this will continue as long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/millions-of-men-give-all-their-energies-as-well-as-their-very-souls/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [We despair of changing the habits of men, still we would alter institutions, the habits of millions of men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-iles/we-despair-of-changing-the-habits-of-men-still-we-would-alter/) [George Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-iles/) ## More by Leo Tolstoy > [These joys were so trifling as to be as imperceptible as grains of gold among the sand, and in moments of depression she saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/these-joys-were-so-trifling-as-to-be-as-imperceptible-as-grains-of/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-only-significance-of-life-consists-in-helping-to-establish-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Energy rests upon love; and come as it will, there's no forcing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/energy-rests-upon-love-and-come-as-it-will-there-s-no-forcing-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“If you only knew what those society women are, and women in general! My father is right. Selfish, vain, stupid, trivial in everything—that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/if-you-only-knew-what-those-society-women-are-and-women-in-general-my/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To speak of it would be giving importance to that which has none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-speak-of-it-would-be-giving-importance-to-that-which-has-none/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Once we're thrown off our habitual paths, we think all is lost, but it's only here that the new and the good begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/once-we-re-thrown-off-our-habitual-paths-we-think-all-is-lost-but-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He knew she was there by the rapture and the terror that seized on his heart. She was standing talking to a lady at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-knew-she-was-there-by-the-rapture-and-the-terror-that-seized-on/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Rest, nature, books, music...such is my idea of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/rest-nature-books-music-such-is-my-idea-of-happiness/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He was not to blame for being born with an irrepressible charachter and a mind some how constrained.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-was-not-to-blame-for-being-born-with-an-irrepressible-charachter/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I ask one thing only: I ask for the right to hope, to suffer as I do. But if even that cannot be, command…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-ask-one-thing-only-i-ask-for-the-right-to-hope-to-suffer-as-i-do/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The idea shared by many that life is a vale of tears is just as false as the idea shared by the great majority,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-idea-shared-by-many-that-life-is-a-vale-of-tears-is-just-as-false/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-say-that-a-work-of-art-is-good-but-incomprehensible-to-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [True life is lived when tiny changes occur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/true-life-is-lived-when-tiny-changes-occur/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) [Explore all 1,754 Leo Tolstoy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## More Consent quotes > [The order of things consents to virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-order-of-things-consents-to-virtue/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Therefore, I see whatever exists as good, death is to me like life, sin like holiness, wisdom like foolishness, everything has to be as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/therefore-i-see-whatever-exists-as-good-death-is-to-me-like-life-sin/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [“When a lady does consent to listen to an argument against her own opinions, she is always predetermined to withstand it - to listen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/when-a-lady-does-consent-to-listen-to-an-argument-against-her-own/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [But a most pernicious error widely prevails that Scripture has only so much weight as is conceded to it by the consent of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/but-a-most-pernicious-error-widely-prevails-that-scripture-has-only/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [Well I think that what we're seeing now is that the people feel like they, the people in Congress don't have their consent to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ingraham/well-i-think-that-what-we-re-seeing-now-is-that-the-people-feel-like/) [Laura Ingraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ingraham/) > [Even if a civil society were to be dissolved by the consent of all its members (e.g., if a people inhabiting an island decided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/even-if-a-civil-society-were-to-be-dissolved-by-the-consent-of-all/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [We live in an age rather skeptical of truth, of its existence." There is a "tendency to believe that nothing is definitive, and think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/we-live-in-an-age-rather-skeptical-of-truth-of-its-existence-there-is/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [“Silence does not mean yes. No can be thought and felt but never said. It can be screamed silently on the inside. It can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-reed/silence-does-not-mean-yes-no-can-be-thought-and-felt-but-never-said/) [Amy Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-reed/) > [I can never consent to being dictated to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tyler/i-can-never-consent-to-being-dictated-to/) [John Tyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tyler/) > [When all moves equally (says Pascal), nothing seems to move as in a vessel under sail; and when all run by common consent into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/when-all-moves-equally-says-pascal-nothing-seems-to-move-as-in-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [“There are some wounds unreachable by words, some sins immune to apology.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-hatvany/there-are-some-wounds-unreachable-by-words-some-sins-immune-to-apology/) [Amy Hatvany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-hatvany/) > [Many people do not realize that where unions have bargaining rights employers cannot raise wages or improve benefit plans any more than they can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-e-wilson/many-people-do-not-realize-that-where-unions-have-bargaining-rights/) [Charles E. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-e-wilson/) > [Fate does not seek our consent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-goodkind/fate-does-not-seek-our-consent/) [Terry Goodkind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-goodkind/) > [That is a list of the Territories that yielded to Ebon Askavi. They now stand within the shadow of the Keep. They are mine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bishop/that-is-a-list-of-the-territories-that-yielded-to-ebon-askavi-they/) [Anne Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bishop/) [Browse all 676 Consent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consent/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It was necessary that millions of men in whose hands lay the real power—the soldiers who fired, or transported provisions and guns—should consent to carry out the will of these weak individuals, and should have been induced to do so by an infinite number of diverse and complex causes.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leo Tolstoy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/it-was-necessary-that-millions-of-men-in-whose-hands-lay-the-real/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Consent" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/it-was-necessary-that-millions-of-men-in-whose-hands-lay-the-real/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/609/leo-tolstoy-55_consent_it-was-necessary-that-millions-of-men-in_1906996.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/609/leo-tolstoy-55_consent_it-was-necessary-that-millions-of-men-in_1906996.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/609/leo-tolstoy-55_consent_it-was-necessary-that-millions-of-men-in_1906996.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It was necessary that millions of men in whose hands lay the real power—the soldiers who fired, or…” — Leo Tolstoy", "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": "Leo Tolstoy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It was necessary that millions of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/it-was-necessary-that-millions-of-men-in-whose-hands-lay-the-real/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/it-was-necessary-that-millions-of-men-in-whose-hands-lay-the-real/#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 } } ] } ```