--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I want people to take thought about their…" description: "\"I want people to take thought about their condition and to recognize that the maintainence of a free society is a very difficult and complicated thing ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c03/milton-friedman-616_bases_i-want-people-to-take-thought-about-thei_2692012.jpg" --- # I want people to take thought about their condition and to… ![“I want people to take thought about their condition and to recognize that the maintainence of a free society is a very difficult and complicated thing and it requires a self-denying ordinance of the most extreme kind. It requires a willingness to put up with temporary evils on the basis of the…” quote by Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c03/milton-friedman-616_bases_i-want-people-to-take-thought-about-thei_2692012.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c03/milton-friedman-616_bases_i-want-people-to-take-thought-about-thei_2692012.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c03/milton-friedman-616_bases_i-want-people-to-take-thought-about-thei_2692012.jpg) > “I want people to take thought about their condition and to recognize that the maintainence of a free society is a very difficult and complicated thing and it requires a self-denying ordinance of the most extreme kind. It requires a willingness to put up with temporary evils on the basis of the subtle and sophisticated understanding that if you step in to do something about them you not only may make them worse, you will spread your tenticles and get bad results elsewhere.” [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Free societies require self‑denial and tolerance of temporary evils; intervention can worsen outcomes. **In simple terms:** Freedom demands sacrifice and tolerance. Key Takeaway Accept temporary evils for greater freedom. Themes freedom self‑denial politics Mood cautious philosophical Type political ethical When to use this quote - government decisions - civil rights - international aid - legal reform Key Concepts ethical trade‑offs public policy Questions to Reflect On - When is intervention justified? - How to balance liberty and safety? A Different Perspective Too much tolerance may enable abuse. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bases/) [Complicated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complicated/) [Complicated things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complicated-things/) [Conditions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conditions/) [Difficult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficult/) [Elsewhere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elsewhere/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Extremes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremes/) [Free society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-society/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Ordinances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinances/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-thought-276047/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Requires Willingness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/requires-willingness-826820/) [Results](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/results/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Society Difficult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-difficult-2145754/) [Sophisticated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sophisticated/) [Spread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spread/) [Steps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steps/) [Subtle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subtle/) [Temporary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temporary/) [Temporary Evils](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/temporary-evils-2665886/) [Thought Condition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-condition-2665887/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Willingness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willingness/) ## Related quotes > [I want people to take thought about their condition and to recognize that the maintenance of a free society is a very difficult and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/i-want-people-to-take-thought-about-their-condition-and-to-recognize-2/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [“In the human society, it is difficult to find all angels flapping there wings and all saints singing halleluya.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/late-chief-gani-fahewinmi/in-the-human-society-it-is-difficult-to-find-all-angels-flapping/) [Late Chief Gani Fahewinmi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/late-chief-gani-fahewinmi/) > [I think we're living in a world where society is very difficult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-seagal/i-think-we-re-living-in-a-world-where-society-is-very-difficult/) [Steven Seagal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-seagal/) > [Marx saw that capitalism is a wasteful, irrational system, a system which controls us when we should be controlling it. 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