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The more complete the despotism, the more smoothly all things move on the surface.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote suggests that a complete and oppressive control can create an illusion of order and efficiency.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton's quote reflects on the nature of despotism and its superficial allure. While an authoritarian regime may maintain a faΓ§ade of stability and control, this often masks underlying injustices and struggles faced by individuals. Therefore, it prompts a deeper contemplation about the cost of such order, urging us to examine the implications of unchallenged authority and the importance of freedom and justice.

Themes

DespotismAuthorityControlFreedomJustice

In practice

Example use cases

In a political debate discussing the dangers of authoritarian regimes.

More from Elizabeth Cady Stanton

When women can support themselves, have entry to all the trades and professions, with a house of their own over their heads and a bank account, they will own their bodies and be dictators in the social realm.
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To live for a principle, for the triumph of some reform by which all mankind are to be lifted up to be wedded to an idea may be, after all, the holiest and happiest of marriages.
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The strongest reason for giving woman all the opportunities for higher education, for the full development of her faculties, her forces of mind and body... is the solitude and personal responsibility of her own individual life.
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Only those who have lived all their lives under the dark clouds of vague, undefined fears can appreciate the joy of a doubting soul suddenly born into the kingdom of reason and free thought.
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We demand in the Reconstruction suffrage for all the citizens of the Republic. I would not talk of Negroes or women, but of citizens.
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Come, come, my conservative friend, wipe the dew off your spectacles, and see that the world is moving.
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A little wisdom, now and then

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