Freedom comes only to those who no longer ask of life that it shall yield them any of those personal goods that are subject to the mutations of time.
Bertrand RussellRead
These decrees of yours are no different from spiders' webs. They'll restrain anyone weak and insignificant who gets caught in them, but they'll be torn to shreds by people with power and wealth.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the authority of oppressive rules that only control the weak, while the powerful can easily disregard them.
Anacharsis uses a metaphor to compare oppressive decrees to spiders' webs, suggesting that such laws are effective at trapping the powerless but ultimately flimsy against those with strength and resources. This highlights the often imbalanced nature of power and authority in society, where the rules can be easily broken or ignored by those who have the means to do so, leaving the vulnerable at a disadvantage.
Themes
AuthorityPowerOppressionInequalityFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about social justice, one might reference this quote to illustrate the inequities present in legal systems.
Similar quotes
We are not at war with Islam. We are at war with people who have perverted Islam.
Barack ObamaRead
If there is any God, there is only one way to please him, and that is by a conscientious discharge of your obligations to your fellow men.
Robert Green IngersollRead
This practice of yoga is to remove the weeds from the body so that the garden can grow.
B.K.S. IyengarRead
Hero-worship is strongest where there is least regard for human freedom.
Herbert SpencerRead
I could scream down 90 mountains to less than dust if only one living human had eyes in the head and heart in the body, but there is no chance, my god, no chance. rat with rat dog with dog hog with hog, play the piano drunk listen to the drunk piano, realize the myth of mercy stand still as even a child's voice snarls and we have not been fooled, it was only that we wanted to believe.
Charles BukowskiRead