--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Easier were it To hurl the rooted…" description: "\"Easier were it To hurl the rooted mountain from its base, Than force the yoke of slavery upon men Determin'd to be free.\" — Robert Southey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/robert-southey-4115_easier_easier-were-it-to-hurl-the-rooted-mounta_622255.png" --- # Easier were it To hurl the rooted mountain from its base… ![“Easier were it To hurl the rooted mountain from its base, Than force the yoke of slavery upon men Determin'd to be free.” quote by Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/robert-southey-4115_easier_easier-were-it-to-hurl-the-rooted-mounta_622255.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/robert-southey-4115_easier_easier-were-it-to-hurl-the-rooted-mounta_622255.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/robert-southey-4115_easier_easier-were-it-to-hurl-the-rooted-mounta_622255.png) > “Easier were it To hurl the rooted mountain from its base, Than force the yoke of slavery upon men Determin'd to be free.” [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It is easier to move a mountain than to force slavery on those yearning for freedom. **In simple terms:** Freedom is harder to oppress than to move a mountain. Key Takeaway Respect the desire for liberty. Themes freedom oppression resistance human will natural law Mood reflective serious Type ethical political When to use this quote - colonial rule - authoritarian regimes - personal relationships - workplace hierarchies Key Concepts social contract moral philosophy political theory Questions to Reflect On - What freedoms are you taking for granted? - How can you support others' quest for freedom? A Different Perspective Oppression may be subtle, not always overt. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Easier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easier/) [Easier Hurl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easier-hurl-5032679/) [Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mountain/) [Rooted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rooted/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [Slavery Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery-men-1151532/) [Yoke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yoke/) [Yoke Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yoke-slavery-1696791/) ## Related quotes > [I believe that no people ever yet groaned under the heavy yoke of slavery but when they deserved it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/i-believe-that-no-people-ever-yet-groaned-under-the-heavy-yoke-of/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [Willingly no one chooses the yoke of slavery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/willingly-no-one-chooses-the-yoke-of-slavery/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scotty-smith/it-is-for-freedom-that-christ-has-set-us-free-stand-firm-then-and-do/) [Scotty Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scotty-smith/) > [Poor dusky children of slavery, men and women of my own race-the transition from slavery to freedom was too sudden for you! The bright…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-keckley/poor-dusky-children-of-slavery-men-and-women-of-my-own-race-the/) [Elizabeth Keckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-keckley/) > [It was men who stopped slavery. It was men who ran up the stairs in the Twin Towers to rescue people. It was men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eldredge/it-was-men-who-stopped-slavery-it-was-men-who-ran-up-the-stairs-in/) [John Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eldredge/) > [“Men and their honor and fighting… Such things were fine for them. They had victory or they had death, and with the latter a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-l-nelson/men-and-their-honor-and-fighting-such-things-were-fine-for-them-they/) [James L. Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-l-nelson/) > [Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/aristotle-said-that-some-people-were-only-fit-to-be-slaves-i-do-not/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Although all men are born free, slavery has been the general lot of the human race. Ignorant--they have been cheated; asleep--they have been surprised;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/although-all-men-are-born-free-slavery-has-been-the-general-lot-of/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [Once slavery in America was not seen as radical. It became, instead, a revolutionary idea that slaves should be freed. When we have lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-spence/once-slavery-in-america-was-not-seen-as-radical-it-became-instead-a/) [Gerry Spence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-spence/) > [Let us depart! the universal sun Confines not to one land his blessed beams; Nor is man rooted, like a tree, whose seed, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/let-us-depart-the-universal-sun-confines-not-to-one-land-his-blessed/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [The sum of all that makes a just man happy Consists in the well choosing of his wife: And there, well to discharge it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-massinger/the-sum-of-all-that-makes-a-just-man-happy-consists-in-the-well/) [Philip Massinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-massinger/) > [The more horses you yoke the quicker everything will go - not the rending of the block from its foundation, which is impossible, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/the-more-horses-you-yoke-the-quicker-everything-will-go-not-the/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Treason and murder ever kept together, As two yoke-devils sworn to either's purpose, Working so grossly in a natural cause That admiration did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/treason-and-murder-ever-kept-together-as-two-yoke-devils-sworn-to/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Time is never more misspent than while we declaim against the want of it; all our actions are then tinctured with peevishness. The yoke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/time-is-never-more-misspent-than-while-we-declaim-against-the-want-of/) [Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/) > [Wherever I am, I see the yoke on women in some form or another. On some it sits easy for they are but beasts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abby-may-alcott/wherever-i-am-i-see-the-yoke-on-women-in-some-form-or-another-on-some/) [Abby May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abby-may-alcott/) ## More by Robert Southey > [Some voluntary castaways there will always be, whom no fostering kindness and no parental care can preserve from self-destruction; but if any are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/some-voluntary-castaways-there-will-always-be-whom-no-fostering/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [It has been more wittily than charitably said that hell is paved with good intentions; they have their place in heaven also.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/it-has-been-more-wittily-than-charitably-said-that-hell-is-paved-with/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Order is the sanity of the mind, the health of the body, the peace of the city, the security of the state. As the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/order-is-the-sanity-of-the-mind-the-health-of-the-body-the-peace-of/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Whatever strengthens our local attachments is favorable both to individual and national character, our home, our birthplace, our native land. Think for a while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/whatever-strengthens-our-local-attachments-is-favorable-both-to/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [I have told you of the Spaniard who always put on his spectacles when about to eat cherries, that they might look bigger and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/i-have-told-you-of-the-spaniard-who-always-put-on-his-spectacles-when/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [My days among the dead are passed; Around me I behold, Where'er these casual eyes are cast, The mighty minds of old; My never-failing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/my-days-among-the-dead-are-passed-around-me-i-behold-where-er-these/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Love is indestructible. It's holy flame forever burneth; from Heaven it came, to Heaven returneth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/love-is-indestructible-it-s-holy-flame-forever-burneth-from-heaven-it/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Live as long as you may, the first twenty years are the longest half of your life. They appear so while they are passing;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/live-as-long-as-you-may-the-first-twenty-years-are-the-longest-half/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Take away love, and not physical nature only, but the heart of the moral world, would be palsied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/take-away-love-and-not-physical-nature-only-but-the-heart-of-the/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Where Washington hath left His awful memory A light for after times!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/where-washington-hath-left-his-awful-memory-a-light-for-after-times/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [The loss of a friend is like that of a limb; time may heal the anguish of the wound, but the loss cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/the-loss-of-a-friend-is-like-that-of-a-limb-time-may-heal-the-anguish/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Three things a wise man will not trust, The wind, the sunshine of an April day, And woman's plighted faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/three-things-a-wise-man-will-not-trust-the-wind-the-sunshine-of-an/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [She comes majestic with her swelling sails, The gallant Ship: along her watery way, Homeward she drives before the favouring gales; Now flirting at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/she-comes-majestic-with-her-swelling-sails-the-gallant-ship-along-her/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [A wise judge, by the craft of the law, was never seduced from its purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/a-wise-judge-by-the-craft-of-the-law-was-never-seduced-from-its/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Let us depart! the universal sun Confines not to one land his blessed beams; Nor is man rooted, like a tree, whose seed, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/let-us-depart-the-universal-sun-confines-not-to-one-land-his-blessed/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) [Explore all 116 Robert Southey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) ## More Easier quotes > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelli-o-hara/when-you-step-out-and-do-a-song-in-a-musical-the-easier-thing-to-do/) [Kelli O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelli-o-hara/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [I think hair gel was invented to make it easier to identify assholes from a distance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demetri-martin/i-think-hair-gel-was-invented-to-make-it-easier-to-identify-assholes/) [Demetri Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demetri-martin/) > [It is easier to say you're mad, rather than admitting you're hurt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-easier-to-say-you-re-mad-rather-than-admitting-you-re-hurt/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Nothing is easier than yesterday's solutions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-sperry/nothing-is-easier-than-yesterday-s-solutions/) [Roger Sperry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-sperry/) > [When you have a cavity in your tooth and you let it get worse, eventually you have to get a root canal. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-newton-john/when-you-have-a-cavity-in-your-tooth-and-you-let-it-get-worse/) [Olivia Newton-John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-newton-john/) > [Generally, I like all islands. There, it is easier to rule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/generally-i-like-all-islands-there-it-is-easier-to-rule/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [It's funny, everything is so much easier when you do it yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carine-roitfeld/it-s-funny-everything-is-so-much-easier-when-you-do-it-yourself/) [Carine Roitfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carine-roitfeld/) > [It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-is-easier-to-perceive-error-than-to-find-truth-for-the-former-lies/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I'm truly, 100% guided by the characters and my Muse. 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You are where you are supposed to be. The job you are doing may not be any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-kushner/god-puts-you-where-god-needs-you-you-are-where-you-are-supposed-to-be/) [Lawrence Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-kushner/) [Browse all 5,480 Easier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easier/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Easier were it To hurl the rooted mountain from its base, Than force the yoke of slavery upon men Determin'd to be free.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Southey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/easier-were-it-to-hurl-the-rooted-mountain-from-its-base-than-force/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Easier" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/easier-were-it-to-hurl-the-rooted-mountain-from-its-base-than-force/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/robert-southey-4115_easier_easier-were-it-to-hurl-the-rooted-mounta_622255.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/robert-southey-4115_easier_easier-were-it-to-hurl-the-rooted-mounta_622255.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/robert-southey-4115_easier_easier-were-it-to-hurl-the-rooted-mounta_622255.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Easier were it To hurl the rooted mountain from its base, Than force the yoke of slavery upon men Determin'd…” — Robert Southey", "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 Southey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Easier were it To hurl the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/easier-were-it-to-hurl-the-rooted-mountain-from-its-base-than-force/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/easier-were-it-to-hurl-the-rooted-mountain-from-its-base-than-force/#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 } } ] } ```