--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We call ourselves a free nation, and yet…" description: "\"We call ourselves a free nation, and yet we let ourselves be told what cabs we can and can't take by a man at a hotel door, simply because he has a dru..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/robert-benchley-2562_cab_we-call-ourselves-a-free-nation-and-yet_1626814.jpg" --- # We call ourselves a free nation, and yet we let ourselves… ![“We call ourselves a free nation, and yet we let ourselves be told what cabs we can and can't take by a man at a hotel door, simply because he has a drum major's uniform on.” quote by Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/robert-benchley-2562_cab_we-call-ourselves-a-free-nation-and-yet_1626814.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/robert-benchley-2562_cab_we-call-ourselves-a-free-nation-and-yet_1626814.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/robert-benchley-2562_cab_we-call-ourselves-a-free-nation-and-yet_1626814.jpg) > “We call ourselves a free nation, and yet we let ourselves be told what cabs we can and can't take by a man at a hotel door, simply because he has a drum major's uniform on.” [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Authority can be absurd when superficial symbols dictate rules. **In simple terms:** Superficial authority can dictate behavior. Key Takeaway Question authority based on merit, not appearance. Themes authority absurdity conformity Mood skeptical humorous Type satire commentary When to use this quote - public policy - workplace rules - social norms - fashion trends Key Concepts social critique political satire Questions to Reflect On - When do you accept rules? - How to challenge superficial authority? A Different Perspective Not all authority is inherently flawed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Drum major](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drum-major/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Hospitality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hospitality/) [Hotel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hotel/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) ## Related quotes > [See how free we are! as a nation of persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/see-how-free-we-are-as-a-nation-of-persons/) [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) > [My first task is to show how great we are as a nation - let's banish the pessimists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-leadsom/my-first-task-is-to-show-how-great-we-are-as-a-nation-let-s-banish/) [Andrea Leadsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-leadsom/) > [As your president, I care too much about this nation to let anyone stand in the way of our people's wellbeing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-your-president-i-care-too-much-about-this-nation-to-let-anyone/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We have a great country, we are a great nation - let us trust in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felipe-vi/we-have-a-great-country-we-are-a-great-nation-let-us-trust-in-it/) Felipe VI > [Democracy is a con game. It’s a word invented to placate people to make them accept a given institution. All institutions sing, ‘We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/democracy-is-a-con-game-it-s-a-word-invented-to-placate-people-to/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [Be it caste or communal violence, they stall the growth of the nation. Let us affirm that we will be free from these tensions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/be-it-caste-or-communal-violence-they-stall-the-growth-of-the-nation/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Big corporations don't just belong to one person or two persons but to a whole nation. If you let big corporations fail, then a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/big-corporations-don-t-just-belong-to-one-person-or-two-persons-but/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [“A free nation of good willed and hardworking people will be better developed than a nation of lazy people with good will but are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/topsy-gift/a-free-nation-of-good-willed-and-hardworking-people-will-be-better/) [Topsy Gift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/topsy-gift/) > [“You know how impossible it is, in short, to have a free nation if it is a military nation and under military orders”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/you-know-how-impossible-it-is-in-short-to-have-a-free-nation-if-it-is/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [It is harder to release a nation from servitude than to enslave a free nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-bolivar/it-is-harder-to-release-a-nation-from-servitude-than-to-enslave-a/) [Simon Bolivar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-bolivar/) > [Their sacrifice was great, but not in vain. All Americans and every free nation on earth can trace their liberty to the white markers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/their-sacrifice-was-great-but-not-in-vain-all-americans-and-every/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [We are a purely idealistic Nation but let no one confuse our idealism with weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/we-are-a-purely-idealistic-nation-but-let-no-one-confuse-our-idealism/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [Dictatorship nations are outlaws. Any free nation had the right to invade Nazi Germany and, today, has the right to invade Soviet Russia, Cuba,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/dictatorship-nations-are-outlaws-any-free-nation-had-the-right-to/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Our American liberty defines our great nation. Let us each learn and do all we can to preserve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-waltz/our-american-liberty-defines-our-great-nation-let-us-each-learn-and/) [Michael Waltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-waltz/) > [“I have always dislike people who live by the motto "It's my way or the highway" We live in a free nation called America…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-pina/i-have-always-dislike-people-who-live-by-the-motto-it-s-my-way-or-the/) [Timothy Pina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-pina/) ## More by Robert Benchley > [I have often wondered how they manage to get return envelopes which miss, by one-quarter of an inch, fitting the blank you are supposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/i-have-often-wondered-how-they-manage-to-get-return-envelopes-which/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/my-first-big-mistake-was-made-when-in-a-moment-of-weakness-i/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [You might think that after thousands of years of coming up too soon and getting frozen, the crocus family would have had a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/you-might-think-that-after-thousands-of-years-of-coming-up-too-soon/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/it-took-me-fifteen-years-to-discover-i-had-no-talent-for-writing-but/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [But ice-crunching and loud gum-chewing, together with drumming on tables, and whistling the same tune 70 times in succession, because they indicate an indifference…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/but-ice-crunching-and-loud-gum-chewing-together-with-drumming-on/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [The naturalistic literature of this country has reached such a state that no family of characters is considered true to life whichdoes not include…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/the-naturalistic-literature-of-this-country-has-reached-such-a-state/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [There is no such place as Budapest. Perhaps you are thinking of Bucharest, and there is no such place as Bucharest, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/there-is-no-such-place-as-budapest-perhaps-you-are-thinking-of/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [I am both a public and a private school boy myself, having always changed schools just as the class in English in the new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/i-am-both-a-public-and-a-private-school-boy-myself-having-always/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed be doing at that moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/anyone-can-do-any-amount-of-work-provided-it-isn-t-the-work-he-is/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [After an author has been dead for some time, it becomes increasingly difficult for his publishers to get out a new book by him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/after-an-author-has-been-dead-for-some-time-it-becomes-increasingly/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [One of the chief duties of the fan is to engage in arguments with the man behind him. This department of the game has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/one-of-the-chief-duties-of-the-fan-is-to-engage-in-arguments-with-the/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [“There are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who do not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-in-the-world-those-who-divide-the-world/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/why-don-t-you-get-out-of-that-wet-coat-and-into-a-dry-martini/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Drinking makes such fools of people, and people are such fools to begin with that it's compounding a felony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/drinking-makes-such-fools-of-people-and-people-are-such-fools-to/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [Behind every argument is someone's ignorance. Behind every argument is someone's ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/behind-every-argument-is-someone-s-ignorance-behind-every-argument-is/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) [Explore all 161 Robert Benchley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) ## More Cab quotes > [well, death says, as he walks by, I'm going to get you anyhow no matter what you've been: writer, cab-driver, pimp, butcher, sky-diver, I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/well-death-says-as-he-walks-by-i-m-going-to-get-you-anyhow-no-matter/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [You'd never think of taking a cab if you had to walk a mile down Chicago's Michigan Avenue. But in a bad city you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helmut-jahn/you-d-never-think-of-taking-a-cab-if-you-had-to-walk-a-mile-down/) [Helmut Jahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helmut-jahn/) > [You know, before I would think, my cab driver hates me. Now I think my limo driver hates me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-romano/you-know-before-i-would-think-my-cab-driver-hates-me-now-i-think-my/) [Ray Romano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-romano/) > [Richard Price, who has made a fortune writing fake ghetto books, says he takes a cab into the ghetto, transcribes Black speech for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ishmael-reed/richard-price-who-has-made-a-fortune-writing-fake-ghetto-books-says/) [Ishmael Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ishmael-reed/) > [We are about to part," said Neville. "Here are the boxes; here are the cabs. There is Percival in his billycock hat. He will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/we-are-about-to-part-said-neville-here-are-the-boxes-here-are-the/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Yeah, I'll pay your cab fare home, you can even use my best cologne, just don't be here in the morning when I wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-stewart/yeah-i-ll-pay-your-cab-fare-home-you-can-even-use-my-best-cologne/) [Rod Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-stewart/) > [I was born in the back seat of a Yellow Cab in a hospital loading zone and with the meter still running. I emerged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-was-born-in-the-back-seat-of-a-yellow-cab-in-a-hospital-loading/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [ Somalis have made my city of Wilmington, Delaware, \[their home\] on a smaller scale. There is a large, very identifiable Somali community, i might… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/somalis-have-made-my-city-of-wilmington-delaware-their-home-on-a/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [I'm like Cab Calloway: I love the entertainment, and I've loved entertaining people ever since I was little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyclef-jean/i-m-like-cab-calloway-i-love-the-entertainment-and-i-ve-loved/) [Wyclef Jean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyclef-jean/) > [Manhattan cabs are born old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-shepherd/manhattan-cabs-are-born-old/) [Jean Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-shepherd/) > [Anytime four New Yorkers get into a cab together without arguing, a bank robbery has just taken place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-carson/anytime-four-new-yorkers-get-into-a-cab-together-without-arguing-a/) [Johnny Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-carson/) > [It's about how whenever I fall in love, I have these expectations of the experience being a perfect dream, which, of course, ruins it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rufus-wainwright/it-s-about-how-whenever-i-fall-in-love-i-have-these-expectations-of/) [Rufus Wainwright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rufus-wainwright/) > [I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I knew. It was like... magic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-ephron/i-was-just-taking-her-hand-to-help-her-out-of-a-car-and-i-knew-it-was/) [Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-ephron/) > [Tokyo cab drivers are all ex-kamikaze pilots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hope/tokyo-cab-drivers-are-all-ex-kamikaze-pilots/) [Bob Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hope/) > [In New York City, a lot of people think "the great outdoors" is the area between your front door and a taxi cab.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bloomberg/in-new-york-city-a-lot-of-people-think-the-great-outdoors-is-the-area/) [Michael Bloomberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bloomberg/) Browse all 192 Cab quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We call ourselves a free nation, and yet we let ourselves be told what cabs we can and can't take by a man at a hotel door, simply because he has a drum major's uniform on.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Benchley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/we-call-ourselves-a-free-nation-and-yet-we-let-ourselves-be-told-what/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cab" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/we-call-ourselves-a-free-nation-and-yet-we-let-ourselves-be-told-what/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/robert-benchley-2562_cab_we-call-ourselves-a-free-nation-and-yet_1626814.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/robert-benchley-2562_cab_we-call-ourselves-a-free-nation-and-yet_1626814.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/robert-benchley-2562_cab_we-call-ourselves-a-free-nation-and-yet_1626814.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We call ourselves a free nation, and yet we let ourselves be told what cabs we can and can't take by a man…” — Robert Benchley", "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": "Robert Benchley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We call ourselves a free nation,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/we-call-ourselves-a-free-nation-and-yet-we-let-ourselves-be-told-what/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/we-call-ourselves-a-free-nation-and-yet-we-let-ourselves-be-told-what/#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 } } ] } ```