"Freedom brings responsibility and often guilt. It may indeed provide a deeper satisfaction and a richer life, but the evaluation of such rewards is a distressingly subjective process. Perhaps no argument in favor of liberty can satisfy the intellect; perhaps the best we can hope for is a shared emotional conviction."

Poul Anderson Literature See all quotes by Poul Anderson →

React to this quote

More by Poul Anderson

“Life isn’t a fairy tale; the knight who kills the dragon doesn’t necessarily get the princess. So what? Who’d want to live in a cosmos less rich and various than the real one?”

“On our Earth, we’ve perforce learned all the knavery there is to know.”

“Men, whose span is cruelly short, rush nonetheless to death in their youth as to a maiden’s arms.”

“It was lonely, not even knowing yourself.”

“Heim ignored the mob scene on the 3V, rested his eyes on the cold serenity of the Milky Way and thought that this, at least, would endure.”

“What’s the point of our living all these centuries if we haven’t grown up even a little?”

Resonant Thoughts

"By this action, the Government has proved that so long as it exists, none of us are truly free. Government and freedom are mutually exclusive. So if we value freedom, there's only one conclusion. It's…"

— Max Barry

Literature1973

#freedom

"I believe in non-violent methods of struggle as most effective in the long run for building up successful working class power. Where they cannot be followed or where they are not even permitted by the…"

— Roger Nash Baldwin

Politics1884–1981

#freedom

"We are either all equally free, or we are not free."

— Alan Charles Kors

Education1943

#freedom

"We're lucky we have personalities on this team. Outgoing guys. Ovechkin is our top player and he's a free spirit. We let them have fun. Maybe there comes a time we need to do something to get to the n…"

— Alexander Ovechkin

1985

#freedom