--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Freedom is indivisible. As soon as one…" description: "\"Freedom is indivisible. As soon as one starts to restrict it, one enters upon a decline on which it is difficult to stop.\" — Ludwig von Mises" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ef/ludwig-von-mises-364_decline_freedom-is-indivisible-as-soon-as-one-st_2733537.png" --- # Freedom is indivisible. As soon as one starts to restrict… ![“Freedom is indivisible. As soon as one starts to restrict it, one enters upon a decline on which it is difficult to stop.” quote by Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ef/ludwig-von-mises-364_decline_freedom-is-indivisible-as-soon-as-one-st_2733537.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ef/ludwig-von-mises-364_decline_freedom-is-indivisible-as-soon-as-one-st_2733537.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ef/ludwig-von-mises-364_decline_freedom-is-indivisible-as-soon-as-one-st_2733537.png) > “Freedom is indivisible. As soon as one starts to restrict it, one enters upon a decline on which it is difficult to stop.” [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Freedom cannot be partially limited; any restriction starts a decline that is hard to reverse. **In simple terms:** Freedom is all‑or‑nothing; limiting it leads to decline. Key Takeaway Protect full freedom to avoid decay. Themes freedom politics decline Mood critical thoughtful Type political philosophical When to use this quote - policy making - activism - education - lawmaking Key Concepts libertarianism economics Questions to Reflect On - Is any restriction justified? - How to balance freedom with security? A Different Perspective Some argue limited freedoms protect others. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Decline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [Freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/freedom-is-indivisible-the-chains-on-any-one-of-my-people-were-the/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [Law and freedom must be indivisible partners. For without law, there can be no freedom, only choas and disorder; and without freedom, law is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/law-and-freedom-must-be-indivisible-partners-for-without-law-there/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/freedom-is-indivisible-and-when-one-man-is-enslaved-all-are-not-free-2/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [Both John F. Kennedy and Nelson Mandela use the same three-word phrase which in my mind says it all, which is ‘Freedom is indivisible.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/both-john-f-kennedy-and-nelson-mandela-use-the-same-three-word-phrase/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I realized that democracy is indivisible, or rather, that freedom is indivisible. There are many clown-democracies in the Arab world, which have nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walid-jumblatt/i-realized-that-democracy-is-indivisible-or-rather-that-freedom-is/) [Walid Jumblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walid-jumblatt/) > [Human rights are universal and indivisible. Human freedom is also indivisible: if it is denied to anyone in the world, it is therefore denied,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/human-rights-are-universal-and-indivisible-human-freedom-is-also/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [Freedom is indivisible. Whites can't enjoy their separate freedoms. They spend too much time and resources defending those freedoms instead of enjoying them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/freedom-is-indivisible-whites-can-t-enjoy-their-separate-freedoms/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Freedom is an indivisible word. If we want to enjoy it, and fight for it, we must be prepared to extend it to everyone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-willkie/freedom-is-an-indivisible-word-if-we-want-to-enjoy-it-and-fight-for/) [Wendell Willkie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-willkie/) > [A piece of freedom is no longer enough for human beings...unlike bread, a slice of liberty does not finish hunger. Freedom is like life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/a-piece-of-freedom-is-no-longer-enough-for-human-beings-unlike-bread/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Freedom is indivisible - there is no "s" on the end of it. You can erode freedom, diminish it, but you cannot divide it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/freedom-is-indivisible-there-is-no-s-on-the-end-of-it-you-can-erode/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/freedom-is-indivisible-and-when-one-man-is-enslaved-all-are-not-free/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [Freedom is indivisible, and either we are working for freedom or you are working for the sake of your self-interests and I am working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-jordan/freedom-is-indivisible-and-either-we-are-working-for-freedom-or-you/) [June Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-jordan/) > [Of course I want people to show up to the concerts and I am sure for that to decline would be a difficult thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kid-rock/of-course-i-want-people-to-show-up-to-the-concerts-and-i-am-sure-for/) [Kid Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kid-rock/) > [We have believed - and we do believe now - that freedom is indivisible, that peace is indivisible, that economic prosperity is indivisible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/we-have-believed-and-we-do-believe-now-that-freedom-is-indivisible/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [If the practice persists of covering government deficits with the issue of notes, then the day will come without fail, sooner or later, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/if-the-practice-persists-of-covering-government-deficits-with-the/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) ## More by Ludwig von Mises > [If the members of parliament no longer consider themselves mandatories of the taxpayers but deputies of those receiving salaries, wages, subsidies, doles, and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/if-the-members-of-parliament-no-longer-consider-themselves/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Changes in human conditions are brought about by the pioneering of the cleverest and most energetic men. They take the lead and the rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/changes-in-human-conditions-are-brought-about-by-the-pioneering-of/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [During the 2300 years since Plato, very little opposition has been registered to his ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/during-the-2300-years-since-plato-very-little-opposition-has-been/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [“How little one is justified in speaking in this connection of "optimism" and "pessimism" and how much the characterization of liberalism as "optimistic" aims…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/how-little-one-is-justified-in-speaking-in-this-connection-of/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Every step by which an individual substitutes concerted action for isolated action results in an immediate and recognizable improvement in his conditions. 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Since under Socialism economic calculation is impossible, under Socialism there can be no economic activity in our sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/without-calculation-economic-activity-is-impossible-since-under/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [There is no kind of freedom and liberty other than the kind which the market economy brings about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/there-is-no-kind-of-freedom-and-liberty-other-than-the-kind-which-the/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Peace and not war is the father of all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/peace-and-not-war-is-the-father-of-all-things/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [What counts alone is the innovator, the dissenter, the harbinger of things unheard of, the man who rejects the traditional standards and aims at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/what-counts-alone-is-the-innovator-the-dissenter-the-harbinger-of/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [In reality no food is valued solely for its nutritive power and no garment or house solely for the protection it affords against cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/in-reality-no-food-is-valued-solely-for-its-nutritive-power-and-no/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [All this talk: the state should do this or that, ultimately means: the police should force consumers to behave otherwise than they would behave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/all-this-talk-the-state-should-do-this-or-that-ultimately-means-the/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [The most successful businessmen were often uneducated when measured by the scholastic standards of the teaching profession. But they were equal to their social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/the-most-successful-businessmen-were-often-uneducated-when-measured/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Two hundred years ago, before the advent of capitalism, a man's social status was fixed from the beginning to the end of his life;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/two-hundred-years-ago-before-the-advent-of-capitalism-a-man-s-social/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Facts per se can neither prove nor refute anything. Everything is decided by the interpretation and explanation of the facts, by the ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/facts-per-se-can-neither-prove-nor-refute-anything-everything-is/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) [Explore all 637 Ludwig von Mises quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) ## More Decline quotes > [Among the many factors that make a return to halcyon days of the first decades of the postwar era virtually impossible is the decline…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gilpin/among-the-many-factors-that-make-a-return-to-halcyon-days-of-the/) [Robert Gilpin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gilpin/) > [When a man imagines, even after years of striving, that he has attained perfection, his decline begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-martin/when-a-man-imagines-even-after-years-of-striving-that-he-has-attained/) Theodore Martin > [Low levels of vitamin D in the population as a whole suggest that most people need to take a vitamin D supplement. 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Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-r-brown/) > [In my humble opinion, the PC as we have known it is in a continuous decline and being relegated to a utility device for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hector-ruiz/in-my-humble-opinion-the-pc-as-we-have-known-it-is-in-a-continuous/) [Hector Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hector-ruiz/) > [“There is a great deal of ruin in a nation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/there-is-a-great-deal-of-ruin-in-a-nation/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [I think the rise of quantitative econometrics and a highly mathematical approach to risk management was the obverse of a decline in interest in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-think-the-rise-of-quantitative-econometrics-and-a-highly/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [To my way of thinking, the American family started to decline when parents began to communicate with their children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/to-my-way-of-thinking-the-american-family-started-to-decline-when/) [Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/) > [Deflation means a slowdown of income growth. 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