--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To take away (voting) is to reduce a man…" description: "\"To take away (voting) is to reduce a man to slavery.\" — Thomas Paine" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78c/thomas-paine-267_democracy_to-take-away-voting-is-to-reduce-a-man-t_2629300.png" --- # To take away (voting) is to reduce a man to slavery. ![“To take away (voting) is to reduce a man to slavery.” quote by Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78c/thomas-paine-267_democracy_to-take-away-voting-is-to-reduce-a-man-t_2629300.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78c/thomas-paine-267_democracy_to-take-away-voting-is-to-reduce-a-man-t_2629300.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78c/thomas-paine-267_democracy_to-take-away-voting-is-to-reduce-a-man-t_2629300.png) > “To take away (voting) is to reduce a man to slavery.” [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. He equates voting with slavery, emphasizing the loss of freedom when citizens relinquish power. **In simple terms:** Voting can be a loss of liberty. Key Takeaway Guard democratic participation. Themes politics freedom slavery Mood skeptical philosophical Type political thought‑provoking When to use this quote - Referendums - elections - civil rights movements Key Concepts Social contract citizen rights Questions to Reflect On - Is voting truly oppressive? - What safeguards protect voter autonomy? A Different Perspective The metaphor may exaggerate democratic processes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [Voting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voting/) ## Related quotes > [“And they are ignorant that the purpose of the sword is to save every man from slavery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-annaeus-lucanus/and-they-are-ignorant-that-the-purpose-of-the-sword-is-to-save-every/) Marcus Annaeus Lucanus > [There is nothing more guaranteed to reduce a man to the essentials than to live beneath the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-bainbridge/there-is-nothing-more-guaranteed-to-reduce-a-man-to-the-essentials/) [Beryl Bainbridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-bainbridge/) > [To reduce man to the duties of his own city, and to disengage him from duties to the members of other cities, is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/to-reduce-man-to-the-duties-of-his-own-city-and-to-disengage-him-from/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Meditation means undoing what the society has done to you. It has reduced you to a machine; you have to de-automatise yourself, you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/meditation-means-undoing-what-the-society-has-done-to-you-it-has/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [The power of unfulfilled desires is the root of all man's slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/the-power-of-unfulfilled-desires-is-the-root-of-all-man-s-slavery/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [“Man cannot relinquish himself or the place in the visible world that belongs to him; he cannot become the slave of things, the slave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-paul-ii/man-cannot-relinquish-himself-or-the-place-in-the-visible-world-that/) [John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-paul-ii/) > [To depend upon the Will of a Man is Slavery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-depend-upon-the-will-of-a-man-is-slavery/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [America is the promised land, because each generation bequeathed to its children a promise, a promise that they might not come to enjoy but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/america-is-the-promised-land-because-each-generation-bequeathed-to/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [I think almost everything important that's ever happened was unimaginable shortly before it happened. Good things and bad things: ending slavery, ending child labor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-swanson/i-think-almost-everything-important-that-s-ever-happened-was/) [David Swanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-swanson/) > [The voting booth joint is a great leveler; the whole neighborhood - rich, poor, old, young, decrepit and spunky - they all turn out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-byrne/the-voting-booth-joint-is-a-great-leveler-the-whole-neighborhood-rich/) [David Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-byrne/) > [If Robert Heinlein is more to your taste than George Lucas: “If you are part of a society that votes, then do so. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-drum/if-robert-heinlein-is-more-to-your-taste-than-george-lucas-if-you-are/) [Kevin Drum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-drum/) > [“All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or back gammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/all-voting-is-a-sort-of-gaming-like-checkers-or-back-gammon-with-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Voting Labour in the past hasn't protected Scotland against Tory governments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-sturgeon/voting-labour-in-the-past-hasn-t-protected-scotland-against-tory/) [Nicola Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-sturgeon/) > [The language we share is at the core of our identity as citizens, and our ticket to full participation in American political life. 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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. 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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 Democracy quotes > [Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. 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