--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Even the most despotic government cannot…" description: "\"Even the most despotic government cannot stand except for the consent of the governed… Immediately the subject ceases to fear the despotic force, his p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/714/mahatma-gandhi-23_consent_even-the-most-despotic-government-cannot_427929.jpg" --- # Even the most despotic government cannot stand except for… ![“Even the most despotic government cannot stand except for the consent of the governed… Immediately the subject ceases to fear the despotic force, his power is gone.” quote by Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/714/mahatma-gandhi-23_consent_even-the-most-despotic-government-cannot_427929.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/714/mahatma-gandhi-23_consent_even-the-most-despotic-government-cannot_427929.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/714/mahatma-gandhi-23_consent_even-the-most-despotic-government-cannot_427929.jpg) > “Even the most despotic government cannot stand except for the consent of the governed… Immediately the subject ceases to fear the despotic force, his power is gone.” [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Political authority collapses when the people withdraw their support, removing the ruler’s power. **In simple terms:** Power depends on consent. Key Takeaway Seek legitimacy through popular support. Themes politics legitimacy consent Mood inspirational serious Type political ethical When to use this quote - elections - public protests - policy reform Key Concepts social contract civil disobedience Questions to Reflect On - What sustains consent over time? - How can leaders maintain trust? A Different Perspective Consent can be fickle and unstable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consent/) [Consent of the governed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consent-of-the-governed/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) ## Related quotes > [“Fortunately, there was government by consent of the governed in America—but just as unfortunately, such governments dearly hate to admit a mistake.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-r-fehrenbach/fortunately-there-was-government-by-consent-of-the-governed-in/) [T. R. Fehrenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-r-fehrenbach/) > [Our nation is built on the bedrock principle that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-cronauer/our-nation-is-built-on-the-bedrock-principle-that-governments-derive/) [Adrian Cronauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-cronauer/) > [“My country again! Mr. Wilson, you have a country; but what country have I, or any one like me, born of slave mothers? 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It was based upon the simple, yet noble, idea that government derives its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tsongas/two-hundred-years-ago-our-founding-fathers-gave-us-a-democracy-it-was/) [Paul Tsongas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tsongas/) > ["All men are created equal." "Government by consent of the governed." "Give me liberty or give me death." And those are not just clever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/all-men-are-created-equal-government-by-consent-of-the-governed-give/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Governments rest on the consent of the governed, and that it is the right of the people to alter or abolish them at will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-davis/governments-rest-on-the-consent-of-the-governed-and-that-it-is-the/) [Jefferson Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-davis/) > [The consent of the governed" is more than a safeguard against ignorant tyrants: it is an insurance against benevolent despots as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/the-consent-of-the-governed-is-more-than-a-safeguard-against-ignorant/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [The public needs to know the kinds of things a government does in its name, or the 'consent of the governed' is meaningless... The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/the-public-needs-to-know-the-kinds-of-things-a-government-does-in-its/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [“Democracy requires accountability and consent of the governed, which is only possible if citizens know what is being done in their name.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-greenwald/democracy-requires-accountability-and-consent-of-the-governed-which/) [Glenn Greenwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-greenwald/) ## More by Mahatma Gandhi > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Devotion required by the Gita is no soft-hearted effusiveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/devotion-required-by-the-gita-is-no-soft-hearted-effusiveness/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [So long as we fear the outside world, we must cease to think of Swaraj.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/so-long-as-we-fear-the-outside-world-we-must-cease-to-think-of-swaraj/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I do not want a kingdom, or heaven; what I want is to remove the trouble of the oppressed, the poor, and the needy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-a-kingdom-or-heaven-what-i-want-is-to-remove-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Religions are not for separating men from one another, they are meant to bind them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/religions-are-not-for-separating-men-from-one-another-they-are-meant/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world if we are superior to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-hold-flesh-food-to-be-unsuited-to-our-species-we-err-in-copying-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was only in South Africa that I got over this shyness, though I never completely overcame it. It was impossible for me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/it-was-only-in-south-africa-that-i-got-over-this-shyness-though-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Where there is life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/where-there-is-life/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [If it was wrong to seek God in a stone, how was it right to seek Him in a book called the Gita, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/if-it-was-wrong-to-seek-god-in-a-stone-how-was-it-right-to-seek-him/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The spirit of democracy cannot be established in the midst of terrorism, whether governmental or popular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-spirit-of-democracy-cannot-be-established-in-the-midst-of/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Champions are made from something they have deep inside of them-a desire, a dream, a vison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/champions-are-made-from-something-they-have-deep-inside-of-them-a/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [My motto is "Unite now, today if you can; fight if you must. But in every case avoid British intervention."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/my-motto-is-unite-now-today-if-you-can-fight-if-you-must-but-in-every/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I have no disciples, being myself an aspirant after discipleship and in search of a guru.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-have-no-disciples-being-myself-an-aspirant-after-discipleship-and/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Man becomes not the lord and master of all creation but he is its servant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/man-becomes-not-the-lord-and-master-of-all-creation-but-he-is-its/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) [Explore all 3,284 Mahatma Gandhi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## 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": "Even the most despotic government cannot stand except for the consent of the governed… Immediately the subject ceases to fear the despotic force, his power is gone.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mahatma Gandhi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/even-the-most-despotic-government-cannot-stand-except-for-the-consent/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Consent" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/even-the-most-despotic-government-cannot-stand-except-for-the-consent/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/714/mahatma-gandhi-23_consent_even-the-most-despotic-government-cannot_427929.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/714/mahatma-gandhi-23_consent_even-the-most-despotic-government-cannot_427929.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/714/mahatma-gandhi-23_consent_even-the-most-despotic-government-cannot_427929.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Even the most despotic government cannot stand except for the consent of the governed… Immediately the…” — Mahatma Gandhi", "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": "Mahatma Gandhi", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Even the most despotic government cannot...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/even-the-most-despotic-government-cannot-stand-except-for-the-consent/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/even-the-most-despotic-government-cannot-stand-except-for-the-consent/#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 } } ] } ```