--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Tyranny, like hell, is not easily…" description: "\"“Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”\" — Th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a57/thomas-paine-267_tyranny_tyranny-like-hell-is-not-easily-conquere_946881.png" --- # Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have… ![“Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” quote by Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a57/thomas-paine-267_tyranny_tyranny-like-hell-is-not-easily-conquere_946881.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a57/thomas-paine-267_tyranny_tyranny-like-hell-is-not-easily-conquere_946881.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a57/thomas-paine-267_tyranny_tyranny-like-hell-is-not-easily-conquere_946881.png) > ““Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”” [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. Struggle against oppression is hard, but greater difficulty makes victory more glorious. **In simple terms:** Hard fights lead to great wins. Key Takeaway Embrace challenges for lasting triumph. Themes freedom resistance victory Mood determined inspired Type historical motivational When to use this quote - activism - revolution - personal adversity Key Concepts political philosophy heroic perseverance Questions to Reflect On - What oppression are you willing to confront? - How does difficulty shape the value of success? A Different Perspective Success may require sacrifice and risk. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Tyranny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tyranny/) ## Related quotes > [“These are the times that try men's souls...yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/these-are-the-times-that-try-men-s-souls-yet-we-have-this-consolation/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-harder-the-conflict-the-more-glorious-the-triumph/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. 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The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/these-are-the-times-that-try-men-s-souls-the-summer-soldier-and-the-2/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [the harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-harder-the-conflict-the-greater-the-triumph/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [Tyranny, like fog in the well known poem, often creeps in silently 'on little cat feet.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/tyranny-like-fog-in-the-well-known-poem-often-creeps-in-silently-on/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [“Tyranny is like the electric wiring in an old house. A tyrant dies, the new tyrant takes possession, and all he has to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/tyranny-is-like-the-electric-wiring-in-an-old-house-a-tyrant-dies-the/) [John Le Carre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [“I do not believe in the unlimited power of the majority,because tyranny of the majority is tyranny like any other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alija-izetbegovic/i-do-not-believe-in-the-unlimited-power-of-the-majority-because/) [Alija Izetbegović](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alija-izetbegovic/) > [“I see nothing that can unite us under the auspices of innocence and honor," he wrote to her. "In the future you will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-see-nothing-that-can-unite-us-under-the-auspices-of-innocence-and/) [Gabriel García Márquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [There is no greater tyranny than that of the dead over the living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/there-is-no-greater-tyranny-than-that-of-the-dead-over-the-living/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Aristocracy is kept up by family tyranny and injustice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/aristocracy-is-kept-up-by-family-tyranny-and-injustice/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [He that rebels against reason is a real rebel, but he that in defence of reason rebels against tyranny has a better title to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/he-that-rebels-against-reason-is-a-real-rebel-but-he-that-in-defence/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [There is something more important than any ultimate weapon. That is the ultimate position-the position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-is-something-more-important-than-any-ultimate-weapon-that-is/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) ## 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 Tyranny quotes > [There is something more important than any ultimate weapon. That is the ultimate position-the position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-is-something-more-important-than-any-ultimate-weapon-that-is/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [When we are capable of living in the moment free from the tyranny of "shoulds," free from the nagging sensation that this moment isn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-z-borysenko/when-we-are-capable-of-living-in-the-moment-free-from-the-tyranny-of/) [Joan Z. Borysenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-z-borysenko/) > [There's a dishonest tyranny in the liberal/progressive/socialist agenda that comes down and says 'we are here because we care about you; we want what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-west/there-s-a-dishonest-tyranny-in-the-liberal-progressive-socialist/) [Allen West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-west/) > [Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/single-acts-of-tyranny-may-be-ascribed-to-the-accidental-opinion-of-a/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“If I do not do this thing, then it may go on and on. Nothing of the greater good comes without struggle and sacrifice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/if-i-do-not-do-this-thing-then-it-may-go-on-and-on-nothing-of-the/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [“...you are strong only as long as you don't deprive people of everything . For a person you've taken everything from is no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/you-are-strong-only-as-long-as-you-don-t-deprive-people-of-everything/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-well-informed-citizenry-is-the-best-defense-against-tyranny/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Sometimes labeling is only useful, like with OCD. Once you're labeled you can be treated. On other occasions labeling leads to tyranny, like with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-ronson/sometimes-labeling-is-only-useful-like-with-ocd-once-you-re-labeled/) [Jon Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-ronson/) > [The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-world-is-a-wonderfully-weird-place-consensual-reality-is/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The terrorist attacks of September 11th and the courageous actions of our armed forces in Afghanistan and Iraq remind us that friends of tyranny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-levin/the-terrorist-attacks-of-september-11th-and-the-courageous-actions-of/) [Carl Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-levin/) > [“If you know only one language, you're a prisoner, stuck in the tyranny of that one language.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-cohen/if-you-know-only-one-language-you-re-a-prisoner-stuck-in-the-tyranny/) [Andrew Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-cohen/) > [Just as Wall Street needs to break the hold of the bonus culture, which drives risk-taking that is rational for individuals but damaging to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-schekman/just-as-wall-street-needs-to-break-the-hold-of-the-bonus-culture/) [Randy Schekman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-schekman/) > [The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/the-accumulation-of-all-powers-legislative-executive-and-judiciary-in/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/when-the-people-are-afraid-of-the-government-that-s-tyranny-but-when/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [ “In this confusion we begin to see what lies behind John Paul II's startling warning about democracy "effectively mov\[ing\] towards a form of totalitarianism."… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-cardinal-pell/in-this-confusion-we-begin-to-see-what-lies-behind-john-paul-ii-s/) [George Cardinal Pell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-cardinal-pell/) [Browse all 1,682 Tyranny quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tyranny/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Paine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/tyranny-like-hell-is-not-easily-conquered-yet-we-have-this/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Tyranny" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/tyranny-like-hell-is-not-easily-conquered-yet-we-have-this/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a57/thomas-paine-267_tyranny_tyranny-like-hell-is-not-easily-conquere_946881.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a57/thomas-paine-267_tyranny_tyranny-like-hell-is-not-easily-conquere_946881.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a57/thomas-paine-267_tyranny_tyranny-like-hell-is-not-easily-conquere_946881.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder 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": "“Tyranny, like hell, is not easily...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/tyranny-like-hell-is-not-easily-conquered-yet-we-have-this/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/tyranny-like-hell-is-not-easily-conquered-yet-we-have-this/#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 } } ] } ```