--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The state is a voluntary association of…" description: "\"“The state is a voluntary association of individuals designed to serve their individual interests. The state is not a faceless villain. The state is al..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d7/robert-peate-23717_civic-duty_the-state-is-a-voluntary-association-of_2525925.jpg" --- # The state is a voluntary association of individuals… ![“The state is a voluntary association of individuals designed to serve their individual interests. The state is not a faceless villain. The state is all of us. But freedom does not mean the freedom to commit violence. Violence includes direct and indirect action; i.e., it is just as violent to…” quote by Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d7/robert-peate-23717_civic-duty_the-state-is-a-voluntary-association-of_2525925.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d7/robert-peate-23717_civic-duty_the-state-is-a-voluntary-association-of_2525925.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d7/robert-peate-23717_civic-duty_the-state-is-a-voluntary-association-of_2525925.jpg) > ““The state is a voluntary association of individuals designed to serve their individual interests. The state is not a faceless villain. The state is all of us. But freedom does not mean the freedom to commit violence. Violence includes direct and indirect action; i.e., it is just as violent to cause someone to starve to death by withholding aid as it is to shoot him, only sneakier.”” [Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The state is a collective of individuals serving mutual interests, not an abstract evil, but freedom excludes violent actions, both direct and indirect. **In simple terms:** The state is people; freedom bans violence. Key Takeaway Recognize collective responsibility and limit violence. Themes politics ethics freedom collective responsibility Mood thoughtful critical concerned Type philosophical political When to use this quote - public policy - community building - conflict resolution - human rights advocacy Key Concepts social contract non‑violence mutual interest Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance individual liberty with collective safety? - What indirect actions constitute violence? A Different Perspective Violence can be subtle and indirect, making it hard to identify and address. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civic duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civic-duty/) [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Direct and indirect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/direct-and-indirect/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) [The-state](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/the-state/) [Violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence/) ## Related quotes > [When there is state there can be no freedom, but when there is freedom there will be no state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/when-there-is-state-there-can-be-no-freedom-but-when-there-is-freedom/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [In our desire to have government become our benefactor and sustainer, we have allowed it to become our taskmaster and overlord. As a result,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-baldwin/in-our-desire-to-have-government-become-our-benefactor-and-sustainer/) [Chuck Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-baldwin/) > [The state can't give you freedom, and the state can't take it away. You're born with it, like your eyes, like your ears. Freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/utah-phillips/the-state-can-t-give-you-freedom-and-the-state-can-t-take-it-away-you/) [Utah Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/utah-phillips/) > [The state tends to expand in proportion to its means of existence and to live beyond its means, and these are, in the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-state-tends-to-expand-in-proportion-to-its-means-of-existence-and/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [We have built our State on the freedom of personal adventure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grierson/we-have-built-our-state-on-the-freedom-of-personal-adventure/) [John Grierson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grierson/) > [In a free state there should be freedom of speech and thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiberius/in-a-free-state-there-should-be-freedom-of-speech-and-thought/) [Tiberius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiberius/) > [Some people giving orders and others obeying them: this is the essence of servitude. Of course, as Hospers smugly observes, "one can at least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/some-people-giving-orders-and-others-obeying-them-this-is-the-essence/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [The state of sleep is a state of freedom in which man is not occupied with the manipulation of the outside world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-state-of-sleep-is-a-state-of-freedom-in-which-man-is-not-occupied/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [“From this state also will he flee. If I should attempt to enumerate them one by one, I should not find a single one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca/from-this-state-also-will-he-flee-if-i-should-attempt-to-enumerate/) [Seneca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca/) > [“Perhaps they'd been conditioned by all the quarantines and blackouts, all the invisible boundaries CSIRA erected on a moment's notice. 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However, in complex societies, where the State is the arbiter of justice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-waterman/systems-of-retributive-justice-work-well-as-long-as-they-are/) [Daniel Waterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-waterman/) > [“But as soon as a man, through lack of character, takes refuge in doctrine, as soon as crime reasons about itself, it multiplies like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/but-as-soon-as-a-man-through-lack-of-character-takes-refuge-in/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“War made the state, and the state made war”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-tilly/war-made-the-state-and-the-state-made-war/) [Charles Tilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-tilly/) > [“...the modern State's greatest single instrument of oppression, its murderous tax on drink...accounts for nearly all the miseries besetting our once-merry land; football hooliganism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-waugh/the-modern-state-s-greatest-single-instrument-of-oppression-its/) [Auberon Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-waugh/) > [“Where will it all end? In the destruction of all other command for the benefit of one alone - that of the state. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-de-jouvenel/where-will-it-all-end-in-the-destruction-of-all-other-command-for-the/) [Bertrand De Jouvenel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-de-jouvenel/) ## More by Robert Peate > [“I think the purpose of government is for a population to accomplish its mutually agreed-upon goals without every citizen having to accomplish those goals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peate/i-think-the-purpose-of-government-is-for-a-population-to-accomplish/) [Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/) > [“I have acquired you, and now I will determine your value to me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peate/i-have-acquired-you-and-now-i-will-determine-your-value-to-me/) [Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/) > [“Work or die’—this is the essence of slavery, of compulsion. And yet this is our world. 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Humanity seems to hate thinking more than any other activity, and yet that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peate/i-provoke-thought-because-that-is-what-needs-provoking-humanity-seems/) [Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/) > [“And of course the World needs more love, but we need to be clear on what form that love will take. Sometimes love requires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peate/and-of-course-the-world-needs-more-love-but-we-need-to-be-clear-on/) [Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/) > [“Persons like you say, ‘I’m an individual, therefore I oppose any power over me.’ That right there does not follow. How about ‘I’m an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peate/persons-like-you-say-i-m-an-individual-therefore-i-oppose-any-power/) [Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/) > [“The Planet Earth is a cesspool of avarice and apathy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peate/the-planet-earth-is-a-cesspool-of-avarice-and-apathy/) [Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/) > [“The truth! Since when have the majority on Earth cared about the truth?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peate/the-truth-since-when-have-the-majority-on-earth-cared-about-the-truth/) [Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/) > [“I think we need to be beholden to each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peate/i-think-we-need-to-be-beholden-to-each-other/) [Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/) > [“In the event of total freedom, the desire to dominate rules just as tyrannically as it does with centrally-planned economies. Freedom gave us capitalism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peate/in-the-event-of-total-freedom-the-desire-to-dominate-rules-just-as/) [Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/) > [“We celebrate the beauty and reason of the individual, and resist the coercion of the state and the tyranny of the majority. We laugh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-peate/we-celebrate-the-beauty-and-reason-of-the-individual-and-resist-the/) [Robert Peate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/) [Explore all 25 Robert Peate quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-peate/) ## More Civic duty quotes > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. 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But they deserve more. We want them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/children-need-to-get-a-high-quality-education-avoid-violence-and-the/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [“The law is too important to be left to the lawyers, to paraphrase Georges Clemenceau about war and generals. We laymen know too little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-k-shipler/the-law-is-too-important-to-be-left-to-the-lawyers-to-paraphrase/) [David K. Shipler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-k-shipler/) > [“We are the pigs who put the pigs in power. If we wanna change that, we gotta build our character.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/we-are-the-pigs-who-put-the-pigs-in-power-if-we-wanna-change-that-we/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We at the NRA embrace and hold dear what makes us uniquely American. 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