--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If the present generation, or any other…" description: "\"If the present generation, or any other, are disposed to be slaves, it does not lessen the right of the succeeding generation to be free: wrongs cannot..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30e/thomas-paine-267_be-a-slave_if-the-present-generation-or-any-other-a_430178.jpg" --- # If the present generation, or any other, are disposed to… ![“If the present generation, or any other, are disposed to be slaves, it does not lessen the right of the succeeding generation to be free: wrongs cannot have a legal descent.” quote by Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30e/thomas-paine-267_be-a-slave_if-the-present-generation-or-any-other-a_430178.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30e/thomas-paine-267_be-a-slave_if-the-present-generation-or-any-other-a_430178.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30e/thomas-paine-267_be-a-slave_if-the-present-generation-or-any-other-a_430178.jpg) > “If the present generation, or any other, are disposed to be slaves, it does not lessen the right of the succeeding generation to be free: wrongs cannot have a legal descent.” [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Freedom is a birthright; oppression cannot be inherited, and each generation must claim it. **In simple terms:** Freedom cannot be passed down as a legal right; it must be earned. Key Takeaway Defend liberty for future generations. Themes freedom rights generational justice slavery Mood determined hopeful urgent Type political philosophical When to use this quote - colonial rule - modern authoritarianism - social movements Key Concepts political theory human rights ethics Questions to Reflect On - What responsibilities do we have to protect freedom? - How can societies prevent inherited oppression? A Different Perspective Legal inheritance cannot guarantee true freedom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Be a slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/be-a-slave/) [Descent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/descent/) [Disposed Slaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disposed-slaves-3793424/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Free Wrongs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-wrongs-3793425/) [Generation Free](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generation-free-488838/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Slaves Does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slaves-does-1233118/) [Succeed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succeed/) [Succeeding Generation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succeeding-generation-2247506/) ## Related quotes > [Every age and generation must be as free to act for itself in all cases as the ages and generations which preceded it. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/every-age-and-generation-must-be-as-free-to-act-for-itself-in-all/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [There never did, there never will, and there never can exist a parliament, or any description of men, or any generation of men, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/there-never-did-there-never-will-and-there-never-can-exist-a-2/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“(To the newly graduated) There never did, there never will, and there never can exist a parliament, or any description of men, or any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/to-the-newly-graduated-there-never-did-there-never-will-and-there/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Every age and generation must be as free to act for itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/every-age-and-generation-must-be-as-free-to-act-for-itself/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“We’re involved with flower, fruit, grapevine. They speak more than the language of the year. Out of the darkness a blaze of colors appears,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/we-re-involved-with-flower-fruit-grapevine-they-speak-more-than-the/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [I just love that Free the Slaves does such a great job of gathering communities, gathering people together, and giving them the information, arming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-williams/i-just-love-that-free-the-slaves-does-such-a-great-job-of-gathering/) [Virginia Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-williams/) > [Each succeeding generation of Gods follow the example of the preceding ones: each generation have their wives, who raise up from the fruit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-pratt/each-succeeding-generation-of-gods-follow-the-example-of-the/) [Orson Pratt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-pratt/) > [The Olympic Games are not just ordinary world championships but a quadrennial festival of universal youth. . . celebrated by each succeeding generation as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-de-coubertin/the-olympic-games-are-not-just-ordinary-world-championships-but-a/) [Pierre de Coubertin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-de-coubertin/) > [In the history of education, the most striking phenomenon is that schools of learning, which at one epoch are alive with a ferment of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-sizer/in-the-history-of-education-the-most-striking-phenomenon-is-that/) [Ted Sizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-sizer/) > [If we are to have faith that mankind will survive and thrive on the face of the earth, we must believe that each succeeding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalyn-sussman-yalow/if-we-are-to-have-faith-that-mankind-will-survive-and-thrive-on-the/) [Rosalyn Sussman Yalow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalyn-sussman-yalow/) > [We may consider each generation as a distinct nation, with a right, by the will of its majority, to bind themselves, but none to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/we-may-consider-each-generation-as-a-distinct-nation-with-a-right-by/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [There will never be a generation of great men until there has been a generation of free women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/there-will-never-be-a-generation-of-great-men-until-there-has-been-a-2/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [There will never be a generation of great men until there has been a generation of free women - of free mothers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/there-will-never-be-a-generation-of-great-men-until-there-has-been-a/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [No generation has a free hold on this earth. All we have is a life tenancy-with a full repairing lease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/no-generation-has-a-free-hold-on-this-earth-all-we-have-is-a-life/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [We champion freedom - but Brexit will mean the next generation is less free to live, work and love across Europe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-swinson/we-champion-freedom-but-brexit-will-mean-the-next-generation-is-less/) [Jo Swinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-swinson/) ## More by Thomas Paine > [“No man is prejudiced in favour of a thing, knowing it to be wrong. He is attached to it on the belief of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/no-man-is-prejudiced-in-favour-of-a-thing-knowing-it-to-be-wrong-he/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“The laws of every country must be analogous to some common principle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-laws-of-every-country-must-be-analogous-to-some-common-principle/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [The book called the Bible has been voted by men, and decreed by human laws to be the word of God; and the disbelief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-book-called-the-bible-has-been-voted-by-men-and-decreed-by-human/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/to-argue-with-a-person-who-has-renounced-the-use-of-reason-is-like/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [One would think that a system loaded with such gross and vulgar absurdities as Scripture religion is could never have obtained credit; yet we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/one-would-think-that-a-system-loaded-with-such-gross-and-vulgar/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Commerce diminishes the spirit, both of patriotism and military defence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/commerce-diminishes-the-spirit-both-of-patriotism-and-military-defence/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [What is it the Bible teaches us? - raping, cruelty, and murder. What is it the New Testament teaches us? - to believe that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/what-is-it-the-bible-teaches-us-raping-cruelty-and-murder-what-is-it/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/those-who-expect-to-reap-the-blessings-of-freedom-must-like-men/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“It has been the practice of all Christian commentators on the Bible, and of all Christian priests and preachers, to impose the Bible on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/it-has-been-the-practice-of-all-christian-commentators-on-the-bible/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [But there are times when men have serious thoughts, and it is at such times, when they begin to think, that they begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/but-there-are-times-when-men-have-serious-thoughts-and-it-is-at-such/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Wisdom is not the purchase of a day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/wisdom-is-not-the-purchase-of-a-day/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Our citizenship in the United States is our national character. Our citizenship in any particular state is only our local distinction. By the latter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/our-citizenship-in-the-united-states-is-our-national-character-our/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/suspicion-is-the-companion-of-mean-souls-and-the-bane-of-all-good/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“To pass from the extremes of danger to safety-from the tumult of war to the tranquility of peace, though sweet in contemplation, requires a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/to-pass-from-the-extremes-of-danger-to-safety-from-the-tumult-of-war/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [What more does man want to know than that the hand or power that made these things is divine, is omnipotent? Let him believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/what-more-does-man-want-to-know-than-that-the-hand-or-power-that-made/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) [Explore all 772 Thomas Paine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) ## More Be a slave quotes > [“Freedom is for the educated people who fought for it. We were slaves of the English, now we will be slaves of the educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khushwant-singh/freedom-is-for-the-educated-people-who-fought-for-it-we-were-slaves/) [Khushwant Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khushwant-singh/) > [Neither should men study war with a view to the enslavement of those who do not deserve to be enslaved; but first of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/neither-should-men-study-war-with-a-view-to-the-enslavement-of-those/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Once a man has tasted freedom he will never be content to be a slave. That is why I believe that this frightfulness we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/once-a-man-has-tasted-freedom-he-will-never-be-content-to-be-a-slave/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/knowledge-makes-a-man-unfit-to-be-a-slave/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [Abraham Lincoln recognized that we could not survive as a free land when some men could decide that others were not fit to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/abraham-lincoln-recognized-that-we-could-not-survive-as-a-free-land/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [If you're not confident in the authority of the Scriptures, you will be a slave to what sounds right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-chandler/if-you-re-not-confident-in-the-authority-of-the-scriptures-you-will/) [Matt Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-chandler/) > [Christ preaches only servitude and dependence... True Christians are made to be slaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/christ-preaches-only-servitude-and-dependence-true-christians-are/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/in-giving-freedom-to-the-slave-we-assure-freedom-to-the-free/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Everyone wants a happy life without difficulties or suffering. We create many of the problems we face. No one intentionally creates problems, but we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/everyone-wants-a-happy-life-without-difficulties-or-suffering-we/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Unless you have found something in life to live for that is more important to you than your own life, you will always be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/unless-you-have-found-something-in-life-to-live-for-that-is-more/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [People allow themselves to be slaves of their bad habits and society's bad habits - but they have free will, and if they wish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peace-pilgrim/people-allow-themselves-to-be-slaves-of-their-bad-habits-and-society/) [Peace Pilgrim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peace-pilgrim/) > [Colonization was the idea that once slavery ended African-Americans should be encouraged - or required, in some people's view - required to leave the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/colonization-was-the-idea-that-once-slavery-ended-african-americans/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [The Grecians and Romans were strongly possessed of the spirit of liberty but not the principle, for at the time they were determined not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-grecians-and-romans-were-strongly-possessed-of-the-spirit-of/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Every lord's mansion stands on the foundation of your bones, soldier, every field has been saturated with your sweat, and you, peasant, even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wladyslaw-stanislaw-reymont/every-lord-s-mansion-stands-on-the-foundation-of-your-bones-soldier/) [Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wladyslaw-stanislaw-reymont/) > [I decided I didn't want to be a slave to any passion any more except for my work, i had too many passions -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-sharif/i-decided-i-didn-t-want-to-be-a-slave-to-any-passion-any-more-except/) [Omar Sharif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-sharif/) [Browse all 130 Be a slave quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/be-a-slave/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If the present generation, or any other, are disposed to be slaves, it does not lessen the right of the succeeding generation to be free: wrongs cannot have a legal descent.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Paine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/if-the-present-generation-or-any-other-are-disposed-to-be-slaves-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Be a slave" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/if-the-present-generation-or-any-other-are-disposed-to-be-slaves-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30e/thomas-paine-267_be-a-slave_if-the-present-generation-or-any-other-a_430178.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30e/thomas-paine-267_be-a-slave_if-the-present-generation-or-any-other-a_430178.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30e/thomas-paine-267_be-a-slave_if-the-present-generation-or-any-other-a_430178.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If the present generation, or any other, are disposed to be slaves, it does not lessen the right of the…” — Thomas Paine", "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": "Thomas Paine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If the present generation, or any...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/if-the-present-generation-or-any-other-are-disposed-to-be-slaves-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/if-the-present-generation-or-any-other-are-disposed-to-be-slaves-it/#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 } } ] } ```