--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Freedom is a need of the soul, and…" description: "\"Freedom is a need of the soul, and nothing else. It is in striving toward God that the soul strives continually after a condition of freedom. God alone..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/592/whittaker-chambers-13841_aspect_freedom-is-a-need-of-the-soul-and-nothin_627102.png" --- # Freedom is a need of the soul, and nothing else. It is in… ![“Freedom is a need of the soul, and nothing else. It is in striving toward God that the soul strives continually after a condition of freedom. God alone is the inciter and guarantor of freedom. He is the only guarantor. External freedom is only an aspect of interior freedom. Political freedom, as…” quote by Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/592/whittaker-chambers-13841_aspect_freedom-is-a-need-of-the-soul-and-nothin_627102.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/592/whittaker-chambers-13841_aspect_freedom-is-a-need-of-the-soul-and-nothin_627102.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/592/whittaker-chambers-13841_aspect_freedom-is-a-need-of-the-soul-and-nothin_627102.png) > “Freedom is a need of the soul, and nothing else. It is in striving toward God that the soul strives continually after a condition of freedom. God alone is the inciter and guarantor of freedom. He is the only guarantor. External freedom is only an aspect of interior freedom. Political freedom, as the Western world has known it, is only a political reading of the Bible. Religion and freedom are indivisible. Without freedom the soul dies. Without the soul there is no justification for freedom. Necessity is the only ultimate justification known to the mind.” [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) ## 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 both an inner spiritual state and an external condition, rooted in divine purpose; true liberty comes from aligning with God’s will. **In simple terms:** Freedom is spiritual and political, but true freedom is inner and divine. Key Takeaway Seek inner alignment with higher purpose. Themes spirituality politics freedom divine purpose Mood contemplative serene Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal meditation - religious practice - political activism - ethical decision making Key Concepts theology existentialism autonomy Questions to Reflect On - How do you cultivate inner freedom? - What role does belief play in your sense of liberty? A Different Perspective External freedoms can be limited by societal structures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bible/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Justification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justification/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Political freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-freedom/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Strife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strife/) [Western](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/western/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [External freedom has probably never existed, but neither have I ever known anyone who knew inner freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlen-haushofer/external-freedom-has-probably-never-existed-but-neither-have-i-ever/) [Marlen Haushofer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlen-haushofer/) > [“Just as sex is a God-given instinct for the prolongation of the human race, so the desire for property as a prolongation of one's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/just-as-sex-is-a-god-given-instinct-for-the-prolongation-of-the-human/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [The external freedom won't be given to us but in the exact measure as we've known at a given moment, to developing our internal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-external-freedom-won-t-be-given-to-us-but-in-the-exact-measure-as/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [There are internal chains and external chains. All the external chains in the world won't enslave you, if you are free inside. And all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-mogahed/there-are-internal-chains-and-external-chains-all-the-external-chains/) [Yasmin Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-mogahed/) > [Man is both strong and weak, both free and bound, both blind and far-seeing. He stands at the juncture of nature and spirit; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/man-is-both-strong-and-weak-both-free-and-bound-both-blind-and-far/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [Neither love nor hate, nor any order of intense adherence to personal involvement in human experience, may be so apt to serve the soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-saroyan/neither-love-nor-hate-nor-any-order-of-intense-adherence-to-personal/) [William Saroyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-saroyan/) > [History is at once freedom and necessity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-gramsci/history-is-at-once-freedom-and-necessity/) [Antonio Gramsci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-gramsci/) > [Political freedom, as the Western world has known it, is only a political reading of the Bible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/political-freedom-as-the-western-world-has-known-it-is-only-a/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [The history of humanity is the history of human freedom...Freedom is not, as Engels thought, "the recognition of necessity." Freedom is the opposite of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/the-history-of-humanity-is-the-history-of-human-freedom-freedom-is/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [Political freedom is a political reading of the Bible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/political-freedom-is-a-political-reading-of-the-bible/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [Hegel was the first to state correctly the relation between freedom and necessity. To him, freedom is the insight into necessity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-engels/hegel-was-the-first-to-state-correctly-the-relation-between-freedom/) [Friedrich Engels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-engels/) > [While the right to talk may be the beginning of freedom, the necessity of listening is what makes that right important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/while-the-right-to-talk-may-be-the-beginning-of-freedom-the-necessity/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [“Once upon a time, Freedom and Necessity were identical; but now what is understood by freedom is in fact indiscipline.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-spengler/once-upon-a-time-freedom-and-necessity-were-identical-but-now-what-is/) [Oswald Spengler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-spengler/) > [There is in government a living impulse to extend itself indefinitely; and there is in freedom a necessity to resist that impulse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/there-is-in-government-a-living-impulse-to-extend-itself-indefinitely/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [“Freedom is the direct opposite of necessity; freedom is necessity overcome.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/freedom-is-the-direct-opposite-of-necessity-freedom-is-necessity/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) ## More by Whittaker Chambers > [It is popular to call it a crisis of the Western world. It is in fact a crisis of the whole world. Communism, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/it-is-popular-to-call-it-a-crisis-of-the-western-world-it-is-in-fact/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [In 1937, I began, like Lazarus, the impossible return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/in-1937-i-began-like-lazarus-the-impossible-return/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [On a scale personal enough to be felt by all, but big enough to be symbolic, the two irreconcilable faiths of our time -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/on-a-scale-personal-enough-to-be-felt-by-all-but-big-enough-to-be/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [When you understand what you see, you will no longer be children. You will know that life is pain, that each of us hangs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/when-you-understand-what-you-see-you-will-no-longer-be-children-you/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [ “It \[Communism\] is not new. It is, in fact, man's second oldest faith. Its promise was whispered in the first days of the Creation… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/it-communism-is-not-new-it-is-in-fact-man-s-second-oldest-faith-its/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [In the United States, the working class are Democrats. The middle class are Republicans. The upper class are Communists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/in-the-united-states-the-working-class-are-democrats-the-middle-class/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [A nation's life is about as long as its reverential memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/a-nation-s-life-is-about-as-long-as-its-reverential-memory/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [A man is not primarily a witness against something. That is only incidental to the fact that he is a witness for something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/a-man-is-not-primarily-a-witness-against-something-that-is-only/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [It is in fact no exaggeration to say that we live in terror that Senator McCarthy will one day make some irreparable blunder that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/it-is-in-fact-no-exaggeration-to-say-that-we-live-in-terror-that/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [The rub is that the pursuit of happiness, as an end in itself, tends automatically, and widely, to be replaced by the pursuit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/the-rub-is-that-the-pursuit-of-happiness-as-an-end-in-itself-tends/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [Every man is crucified upon the cross of himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/every-man-is-crucified-upon-the-cross-of-himself/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [“be realized when, in 1937, I introduced him in New York City, to Colonel Boris Bykov. At St. Matthews Court, Collins lived alone. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/be-realized-when-in-1937-i-introduced-him-in-new-york-city-to-colonel/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [My children, as long as you live, the shadow of the Hiss Case will brush you. In every pair of eyes that rests on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/my-children-as-long-as-you-live-the-shadow-of-the-hiss-case-will/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [“The reality cuts across our minds like a wound whose edges crave to heal, but cannot. Thus, one of the great sins, perhaps the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/the-reality-cuts-across-our-minds-like-a-wound-whose-edges-crave-to/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [The satellite revolt was not sparked from the West. It was sparked by Communism itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/the-satellite-revolt-was-not-sparked-from-the-west-it-was-sparked-by/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) [Explore all 49 Whittaker Chambers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) ## More Aspect quotes > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [It is according to the shapes that I lay the plans for victory, but the multitude does not comprehend this. Although everyone can see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/it-is-according-to-the-shapes-that-i-lay-the-plans-for-victory-but/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [I believe that simple, consistent shifts in our thinking and actions can lead to the miraculous in all aspects of our daily lives, including…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-bernstein/i-believe-that-simple-consistent-shifts-in-our-thinking-and-actions/) [Gabrielle Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-bernstein/) > [There is so much temptation to hold on to my career even more now. To try to micromanage and dictate every little aspect. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-lin/there-is-so-much-temptation-to-hold-on-to-my-career-even-more-now-to/) [Jeremy Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-lin/) > [I do miss the social aspect of sitting in a pub with a pint but you know what when I get down to it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ozzy-osbourne/i-do-miss-the-social-aspect-of-sitting-in-a-pub-with-a-pint-but-you/) [Ozzy Osbourne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ozzy-osbourne/) > [Some say that you should not want money at all because the desire for money is materialistic and not Spiritual. But we want you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/some-say-that-you-should-not-want-money-at-all-because-the-desire-for/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [Death is but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to building up of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-but-an-aspect-of-life-and-the-destruction-of-one-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I would call myself a Gnostic. Which means, I'm interested in pursuing and understanding the spiritual nature of things. A Gnostic is somebody seeking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-crumb/i-would-call-myself-a-gnostic-which-means-i-m-interested-in-pursuing/) [Robert Crumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-crumb/) > [One can be a great artist without being a great technician. There have been many famous ballet stars who did not have the ideal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-bujones/one-can-be-a-great-artist-without-being-a-great-technician-there-have/) Fernando Bujones > [I love fall because I love the whole cuddling aspect of it, and a sweater dress has that vibe of I'm going to hunker…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-chastain/i-love-fall-because-i-love-the-whole-cuddling-aspect-of-it-and-a/) [Jessica Chastain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-chastain/) > [The socially redeeming aspect of golf lies in the vast number of lawyers and bankers and managers who play it, and when you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/the-socially-redeeming-aspect-of-golf-lies-in-the-vast-number-of/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [I didnt like the Survivor shows because of the mean-spirited aspect, and women certainly were part of whatever conflict they would create.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-lawrence/i-didnt-like-the-survivor-shows-because-of-the-mean-spirited-aspect/) [Sharon Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-lawrence/) > [MAC allowed me to have complete freedom on the collaborations—from the shades, the look-and-feel, to the campaign visuals. I have to admit that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-treacy/mac-allowed-me-to-have-complete-freedom-on-the-collaborations-from/) [Philip Treacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-treacy/) > [I mean family is more important than anything in life. Family is important than my crew, D-Block, my rap career anything... It's the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/styles-p/i-mean-family-is-more-important-than-anything-in-life-family-is/) [Styles P](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/styles-p/) > [Wealth is measured by the level of experience in all aspects of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/wealth-is-measured-by-the-level-of-experience-in-all-aspects-of-life/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) Browse all 3,171 Aspect quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Freedom is a need of the soul, and nothing else. 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