Notable Quote

"The first reason why men serve willingly is that they are born serfs and are reared as such. From this there follows another result, namely that people easily become cowardly and submissive under tyrants. For the people, being numbed and having been made sleepy, are little by little lulled into insensibility, and accustomed to the idea of serving."

de La Boétie, Étienne event 1576

From Discourse on Voluntary Servitude

Context: On how custom and upbringing condition men to accept servitude as natural. From Discourse on Voluntary Servitude. English translation by Harry Kurz (1942).