The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.
Thomas MannRead
It is a strange fact that freedom and equality, the two basic ideas of democracy, are to some extent contradictory. Logically considered, freedom and equality are mutually exclusive, just as society and the individual are mutually exclusive.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Freedom and equality can often conflict in democratic societies.
In this quote, Thomas Mann highlights the inherent tension between freedom and equality within a democratic system. He suggests that while both concepts are foundational to democracy, they can be contradictory because granting absolute freedom to individuals may undermine collective equality, just as the needs of society can overshadow individual rights.
Themes
FreedomEqualityDemocracySocietyIndividual
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate on civil rights, this quote can illustrate the struggle between personal freedoms and the pursuit of equality.
More from Thomas Mann
All quotes →Stupid — well, there are so many kinds of stupidity, and cleverness is one of the worst.
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I tell them that if they will occupy themselves with the study of mathematics they will find in it the best remedy against the lusts of the flesh.
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Literature... is the union of suffering with the instinct for form.
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The Freudian theory is one of the most important foundation stones for an edifice to be built by future generations, the dwelling of a freer and wiser humanity.
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One always has the idea of a stupid man as perfectly healthy and ordinary, and of illness as making one refined and clever and unusual.
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