--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Philosophers are despots who have no…" description: "\"“Philosophers are despots who have no armies to command, so they subject the world to their tyranny by locking it up in a system of thought,”\" — Robert..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17a/robert-musil-2009_philosophy_philosophers-are-despots-who-have-no-arm_2145897.jpg" --- # Philosophers are despots who have no armies to command, so… ![“Philosophers are despots who have no armies to command, so they subject the world to their tyranny by locking it up in a system of thought,” quote by Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17a/robert-musil-2009_philosophy_philosophers-are-despots-who-have-no-arm_2145897.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17a/robert-musil-2009_philosophy_philosophers-are-despots-who-have-no-arm_2145897.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17a/robert-musil-2009_philosophy_philosophers-are-despots-who-have-no-arm_2145897.jpg) > ““Philosophers are despots who have no armies to command, so they subject the world to their tyranny by locking it up in a system of thought,”” [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Philosophers impose their ideas as authority, shaping reality without force. **In simple terms:** Thinkers control thoughts, not armies. Key Takeaway Question your assumptions. Themes philosophy power authority Mood critical reflective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - academic discourse - political debate - personal belief formation Key Concepts idealism social influence Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize intellectual tyranny? - What alternative perspectives can you adopt? A Different Perspective Ideas can be challenged by lived experience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Despots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despots/) [Philosophers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophers/) [Philosophers Despots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophers-despots-4489533/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Tyranny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tyranny/) [World Tyranny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-tyranny-949401/) ## Related quotes > [“for all the poor in the world against all tyranny”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/for-all-the-poor-in-the-world-against-all-tyranny/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [The end of despots is always odd?exhilarating to those who suffered their tyrannies, and to those who hold despotism in contempt, and anti-climatic at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fouad-ajami/the-end-of-despots-is-always-odd-exhilarating-to-those-who-suffered/) [Fouad Ajami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fouad-ajami/) > [There are three kinds of despots. There is the despot who tyrannizes over the body. There is the despot who tyrannizes over the soul.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/there-are-three-kinds-of-despots-there-is-the-despot-who-tyrannizes/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Philosophers are people who do violence, but have no army at their disposal, and so subjugate the world by locking it into a system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/philosophers-are-people-who-do-violence-but-have-no-army-at-their/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“In the eighteenth century, philosophers considered the whole of human knowledge, including science, to be their field and discussed questions such as: Did the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/in-the-eighteenth-century-philosophers-considered-the-whole-of-human/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [“Poets and philosophers are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/poets-and-philosophers-are-the-unacknowledged-legislators-of-the-world/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Philosopy is an important subject and has it uses, but when it comes to determining the purpose of life, even the Wisest philosophers are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/philosopy-is-an-important-subject-and-has-it-uses-but-when-it-comes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Any two philosophers can tell each other all they know in two hours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/any-two-philosophers-can-tell-each-other-all-they-know-in-two-hours/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [Science will always raise philosophical questions like, is any scientific theory or model correct? How do we know? Are unobserved things real? etc. and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-crane/science-will-always-raise-philosophical-questions-like-is-any/) [Tim Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-crane/) > [“Socrates: Have you noticed on our journey how often the citizens of this new land remind each other it is a free country? Plato:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/socrates-have-you-noticed-on-our-journey-how-often-the-citizens-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Now that we do not have priests and philosophers any more, artists are the most important people in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/now-that-we-do-not-have-priests-and-philosophers-any-more-artists-are/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [For they, the philosophers, were considered teachers of right living, which is far more excellent, since to speak well belongs only to a few,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lactantius/for-they-the-philosophers-were-considered-teachers-of-right-living/) [Lactantius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lactantius/) > [If experiments are performed thousands of times at all seasons and in every place without once producing the effects mentioned by your philosophers, poets,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/if-experiments-are-performed-thousands-of-times-at-all-seasons-and-in/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [It will sometimes strike a scientific man that the philosophers have been less intent on finding out what the facts are, than on inquiring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/it-will-sometimes-strike-a-scientific-man-that-the-philosophers-have/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [“Mr. Pickwick was a philosopher, but philosophers are only men in armour, after all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mr-pickwick-was-a-philosopher-but-philosophers-are-only-men-in-armour/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## More by Robert Musil > [“Everything we feel and do is somehow oriented "lifeward," and the least deviation away from this direction toward something beyond is difficult or alarming.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/everything-we-feel-and-do-is-somehow-oriented-lifeward-and-the-least/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“He was in that familiar state - not that the occasion mattered to seriously to him -- of incoherent ideas spreading outward without a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/he-was-in-that-familiar-state-not-that-the-occasion-mattered-to/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [It is life that does the thinking all around us, forming with playful ease the connections our reason can only laboriously patch together piecemeal,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/it-is-life-that-does-the-thinking-all-around-us-forming-with-playful/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“What is it you do, then? I'll tell you: You leave out whatever doesn't suit you. As the author himself has done before you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/what-is-it-you-do-then-i-ll-tell-you-you-leave-out-whatever-doesn-t/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [and while faith based on theological reasoning is today universally engaged in a bitter struggle with doubt and resistance from the prevailing brand of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/and-while-faith-based-on-theological-reasoning-is-today-universally/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [What is the use of good painting? We want a spell cast upon the optical part of our existence! We seldom really see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/what-is-the-use-of-good-painting-we-want-a-spell-cast-upon-the/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [That the will of the people can be established by voting for democrats is, of course, a delusion. Yet when considering a non-threatening system…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/that-the-will-of-the-people-can-be-established-by-voting-for/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“Ein Mann, der die Wahrheit will, wird Gelehrter; ein Mann, der seine Subjektivität spielen lassen will, wird vielleicht Schriftsteller; was aber soll ein Mann…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/ein-mann-der-die-wahrheit-will-wird-gelehrter-ein-mann-der-seine/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“For a long time now a hint of aversion had lain on everything he did and experienced, a shadow of impotence and loneliness, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/for-a-long-time-now-a-hint-of-aversion-had-lain-on-everything-he-did/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“All the knowledge that has led our species from wearing animal skins to people flying, complete with proofs, would fill a handful of reference…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/all-the-knowledge-that-has-led-our-species-from-wearing-animal-skins/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [I also believe that few people remain completely untouched by the thought that instead of the life they lead there might also be another,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/i-also-believe-that-few-people-remain-completely-untouched-by-the/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“His appearance gives no clue to what his profession might be, and yet he doesn't look like a man without a profession either. Consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/his-appearance-gives-no-clue-to-what-his-profession-might-be-and-yet/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [Philosophers are people who do violence, but have no army at their disposal, and so subjugate the world by locking it into a system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/philosophers-are-people-who-do-violence-but-have-no-army-at-their/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“The drive of his own nature to keep developing prevents him from believing that anything is final and complete, yet everything he encounters behaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/the-drive-of-his-own-nature-to-keep-developing-prevents-him-from/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“And so the mind or spirit is the great opportunist, itself impossible to pin down, take hold of, anywhere; one is tempted to believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/and-so-the-mind-or-spirit-is-the-great-opportunist-itself-impossible/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) [Explore all 139 Robert Musil quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) ## More Despots quotes > [At a distance, we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/at-a-distance-we-cannot-conceive-of-the-authority-of-a-despot-who/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [If Despotism failed only for want of a capable benevolent despot, what chance has Democracy, which requires a whole population of capable voters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/if-despotism-failed-only-for-want-of-a-capable-benevolent-despot-what/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [All ideas advanced to deal with the Florentine noise problem, the Florentine traffic problem, are Utopian, and nobody believes in them, just as nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/all-ideas-advanced-to-deal-with-the-florentine-noise-problem-the/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [There are three kinds of despots. There is the despot who tyrannizes over the body. There is the despot who tyrannizes over the soul.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/there-are-three-kinds-of-despots-there-is-the-despot-who-tyrannizes/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Every State is a despotism, be the despot one or many.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/every-state-is-a-despotism-be-the-despot-one-or-many/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [Nothing is more durable than the dynasty of Doubt; for he reigns in the hearts of all his people, but gives satisfaction to none…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/nothing-is-more-durable-than-the-dynasty-of-doubt-for-he-reigns-in/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Freedom is contagious. That's why despots fear it so much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-owens/freedom-is-contagious-that-s-why-despots-fear-it-so-much/) [Bill Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-owens/) > [Those who disagree with the dictator's plan have no other means to carry on than to defeat the despot by force of arms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/those-who-disagree-with-the-dictator-s-plan-have-no-other-means-to/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [It is the old practice of despots to use a part of the people to keep the rest in order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/it-is-the-old-practice-of-despots-to-use-a-part-of-the-people-to-keep/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Egotism erects its center in itself; love places it out of itself in the axis of the universal whole. Love aims at unity, egotismat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilhelm-von-schlegel/egotism-erects-its-center-in-itself-love-places-it-out-of-itself-in/) [August Wilhelm von Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilhelm-von-schlegel/) > [Muslims, scholars or not, are on the side of the oppressed and never on the side of the oppressors. Some scholars claim they don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/muslims-scholars-or-not-are-on-the-side-of-the-oppressed-and-never-on/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [Ignorant, unconscious and dishonourable part of a society want and like kings, dictators, padishahs and all sort of despots; educated, conscious and honourable part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/ignorant-unconscious-and-dishonourable-part-of-a-society-want-and/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Close alliances with despots are never safe for free states.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demosthenes/close-alliances-with-despots-are-never-safe-for-free-states/) [Demosthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demosthenes/) > [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/) > [When the last of the Reformers died, religion, instead of emancipating the nations, had become an excuse for the criminal art of despots. Calvin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/when-the-last-of-the-reformers-died-religion-instead-of-emancipating/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) [Browse all 98 Despots quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despots/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Philosophers are despots who have no armies to command, so they subject the world to their tyranny by locking it up in a system of thought,”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Musil" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/philosophers-are-despots-who-have-no-armies-to-command-so-they/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Despots" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/philosophers-are-despots-who-have-no-armies-to-command-so-they/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17a/robert-musil-2009_philosophy_philosophers-are-despots-who-have-no-arm_2145897.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17a/robert-musil-2009_philosophy_philosophers-are-despots-who-have-no-arm_2145897.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17a/robert-musil-2009_philosophy_philosophers-are-despots-who-have-no-arm_2145897.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Philosophers are despots who have no armies to command, so they subject the world to their tyranny by…” — Robert Musil", "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 Musil", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Philosophers are despots who have no...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/philosophers-are-despots-who-have-no-armies-to-command-so-they/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/philosophers-are-despots-who-have-no-armies-to-command-so-they/#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 } } ] } ```