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Étienne de La Boétie

Quote of Étienne de La Boétie: Resolve to serve no more, and...


Biography - Étienne de La Boétie:

French magistrate, classicist, writer, poet and political theorist, best remembered for his friendship with essayist Michel de Montaigne.
Born: 1530 - Died: 1563
Place of birth: France
France

Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed.


Note 

Note



"From all these indignities, such as the very beasts of the field would not endure, you can deliver yourselves if you try, not by taking action, but merely by willing to be free. Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break in pieces."


Quote source: Discourse on Voluntary Servitude

Wikisource - La Boétie - Discours de la servitude volontaire (fr) 




Translation

Translation

(French, German)



French
Soyez résolus de ne servir plus, et vous voilà libres.

German
Seid entschlossen, nicht mehr zu dienen, und ihr seid frei!




See also 

See also...



Peoples once accustomed to masters are not in a condition to do without them.

“But he has nothing on at all,” said a little child at last.

So every bondman in his own hand bears.
The power to cancel his captivity.





Quotes for: freedom


Quotes

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One is not born, but rather becomes, free.





There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere.





This is the highest wisdom that I own; freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew.





Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.





Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.





People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.
















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