Notable Quote

"This single tyrant need not be combated, need not be defeated; he is automatically defeated if the country refuses to consent to its own enslavement. It is not necessary to deprive him of anything; simply give him nothing. There is no need for the country to do anything for itself, provided it does nothing against itself."

de La Boétie, Étienne event 1576

From Discourse on Voluntary Servitude

Context: On the mechanism of voluntary servitude and how withdrawal of consent alone defeats tyranny. From Discourse on Voluntary Servitude. English translation by Harry Kurz (1942).