--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The sovereign people determines life and…" description: "\"“The sovereign people determines life and death and happiness under conditions where experience and experiment alike show thought to be most difficult...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d76/walter-lippmann-1083_burden_the-sovereign-people-determines-life-and_746791.jpg" --- # The sovereign people determines life and death and… ![“The sovereign people determines life and death and happiness under conditions where experience and experiment alike show thought to be most difficult. "The intolerable burden of thought.” quote by Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d76/walter-lippmann-1083_burden_the-sovereign-people-determines-life-and_746791.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d76/walter-lippmann-1083_burden_the-sovereign-people-determines-life-and_746791.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d76/walter-lippmann-1083_burden_the-sovereign-people-determines-life-and_746791.jpg) > ““The sovereign people determines life and death and happiness under conditions where experience and experiment alike show thought to be most difficult. "The intolerable burden of thought.”” [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Thinking deeply is burdensome, especially when experience shows how hard it is to make decisions. **In simple terms:** Thought is a heavy load when reality is complex. Key Takeaway Accept the difficulty of thought and seek clarity. Themes philosophy decisionmaking complexity burden thought Mood reflective cautious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal choices - policy analysis - ethical dilemmas - risk assessment Key Concepts cognitive load epistemology human limits Questions to Reflect On - When does thinking become counterproductive? - How can we balance thought with action? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on thought can lead to paralysis by analysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Burden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burden/) [Burden Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burden-thought-2319613/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Intolerable Burden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intolerable-burden-1831418/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life and death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-and-death/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Sovereign People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sovereign-people-2088380/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) [Thought Difficult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-difficult-595631/) ## Related quotes > [The burden of your thought, is also the gateway to your death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/the-burden-of-your-thought-is-also-the-gateway-to-your-death/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [“There are portions of the sovereign people who spend most of their spare time and spare money on motoring and comparing motor cars, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/there-are-portions-of-the-sovereign-people-who-spend-most-of-their/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [Today the god hypothesis has ceased to be scientifically tenable, has lost its explanatory value and is becoming an intellectual and moral burden to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-huxley/today-the-god-hypothesis-has-ceased-to-be-scientifically-tenable-has/) [Julian Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-huxley/) > [It has been petrified into a slavery of thought and sentiment, as intolerant superiority on the part of the few and an intolerable burden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/it-has-been-petrified-into-a-slavery-of-thought-and-sentiment-as/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“Indeed, one of the functions of the structures of normality is that by making it unnecessary for almost everybody almost all the time to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/indeed-one-of-the-functions-of-the-structures-of-normality-is-that-by/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [If any person had told the Parliament which met in terror and perplexity after the crash of 1720 that in 1830 the wealth of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/if-any-person-had-told-the-parliament-which-met-in-terror-and/) [Thomas B. 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We must tell the Iraqis: you are a sovereign people. And you are in charge of your own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-chirac/sovereignty-is-a-question-of-principle-we-must-tell-the-iraqis-you/) [Jacques Chirac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-chirac/) > [I learned running the government for the Presidency, which I always thought was difficult, is even more difficult than I thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-cutler/i-learned-running-the-government-for-the-presidency-which-i-always/) [Lloyd Cutler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-cutler/) > [He thought: How difficult it is to explain yourself to yourself. Sometimes there only is, and no knowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aidan-chambers/he-thought-how-difficult-it-is-to-explain-yourself-to-yourself/) [Aidan Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aidan-chambers/) > [...I suddenly felt in myself all the weight of Europe: the weight of deliberate purpose in all our actions. I thought to myself, 'How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-asad/i-suddenly-felt-in-myself-all-the-weight-of-europe-the-weight-of/) [Muhammad Asad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-asad/) > [“Ga thought of how difficult it was to come to see the lies you told yourself, the ones that allowed you to function and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-johnson/ga-thought-of-how-difficult-it-was-to-come-to-see-the-lies-you-told/) [Adam Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-johnson/) ## More by Walter Lippmann > [The emancipated woman has to fight something worse than the crusted prejudices of her uncles; she has to fight the bewilderment in her own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/the-emancipated-woman-has-to-fight-something-worse-than-the-crusted/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [Even God has been defended with nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/even-god-has-been-defended-with-nonsense/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [A better distribution of incomes would increase that efficiency by diverting a great fund of wealth from the useless to the useful members of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/a-better-distribution-of-incomes-would-increase-that-efficiency-by/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [There is but one bond of peace that is both permanent and enriching: The increasing knowledge of the world in which experiment occurs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/there-is-but-one-bond-of-peace-that-is-both-permanent-and-enriching/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [Where there is no danger of overt action there is rarely any interference with freedom. 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