To be is to be perceived (Esse est percipi)." Or, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
George BerkeleyRead
Others indeed may talk, and write, and fight about liberty, and make an outward pretence to it but the free-thinker alone is truly free.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True freedom comes from independent thought rather than mere discussion or action about liberty.
George Berkeley's quote emphasizes that while many people may discuss and advocate for liberty, the essence of true freedom lies in the ability to think freely and independently. It suggests that external actions or discussions about freedom are meaningless if one is not genuinely free in their own thoughts and beliefs.
Themes
FreedomThinkingLibertyIndependencePhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about personal liberties, I quoted Berkeley to highlight the importance of independent thought.
More from George Berkeley
All quotes →Truth is the cry of all, but the game of few.
George BerkeleyRead
All the choir of heaven and furniture of earth - in a word, all those bodies which compose the frame of the world - have not any subsistence without a mind.
George BerkeleyRead
The same principles which at first view lead to skepticism, pursued to a certain point, bring men back to common sense.
George BerkeleyRead
Many things, for aught I know, may exist, whereof neither I nor any other man hath or can have any idea or notion whatsoever.
George BerkeleyRead
A ray of imagination or of wisdom may enlighten the universe, and glow into remotest centuries.
George BerkeleyRead
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