The forgotten man... He works, he votes, generally he prays, but his chief business in life is to pay.
William Graham SumnerRead
If I want to be free from any other man's dictation, I must understand that I can have no other man under my control.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True freedom requires mutual respect and the acknowledgment of autonomy in relationships.
This quote emphasizes the vital concept of autonomy and mutual respect in interpersonal relationships. To be free from domination or control by others, one must also forgo the desire to control or dictate othersβ lives. It speaks to the balance required for genuine freedom where both parties acknowledge each other's independence.
Themes
FreedomAutonomyRelationshipsControlRespect
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a speech about personal freedoms in a political context.
More from William Graham Sumner
All quotes βIt is the tendency of the social burdens to crush out the middle class, and to force society into an organization of only two classes, one at each social extreme.
William Graham SumnerRead
We shall find that every effort to realize equality necessitates a sacrifice of liberty.
William Graham SumnerRead
The Forgotten Man is delving away in patient industry, supporting his family, paying his taxes, casting his vote, supporting the church and the school, reading his newspaper, and cheering for the politician of his admiration, but he is the only one for whom there is no provision in the great scramble and the big divide. Such is the Forgotten Man. He works, he votes, generally he prays β but he always pays β yes, above all, he pays.
William Graham SumnerRead
The men who start out with the notion that the world owes them a living generally find that the world pays its 'debt' in the penitentiary or the poor house.
William Graham SumnerRead
We throw all our attention on the utterly idle question whether A has done as well as B, when the only question is whether A has done as well as he could.
William Graham SumnerRead
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