How long would authority and private property exist, if not for the willingness of the mass to become soldiers, policemen, jailers, and hangmen.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Authority and property rely on the masses accepting roles like soldiers or jailers.
- In plain terms
- Power exists because people agree to enforce it.
- What can you take from it?
- Authority depends on public consent.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who benefits from the status quo?
- How do people support authority?
Another view
Some authority relies on force rather than consent.
More from Emma Goldman
Heaven must be an awfully dull place if the poor in spirit live there.
Permalink to quote #54 I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.
Permalink to quote #56 Every effort for progress, for enlightenment, for science, for religious, political, and economic liberty, emanates from the minority, and not from the mass.
Permalink to quote #53
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