None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Only good people truly love freedom; others prefer license.
- In plain terms
- Good people want freedom; others want to do what they want.
- What can you take from it?
- Freedom requires virtue.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can freedom exist without virtue?
- Is license harmful?
Another view
Freedom allows for personal choice regardless of virtue.
More from John Milton
For such kind of borrowing as this, if it be not bettered by the borrower, among good authors is accounted Plagiare.
Permalink to quote #26 No man who knows aught, can be so stupid to deny that all men naturally were born free.
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Permalink to quote #25
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