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The Politics of Obedience by Étienne de La Boétie

“By such words, Hydarnes, you give us no good counsel,” replied the Lacedaemonians, “because you have experienced merely the advantage of which you speak; you do not know the privilege we enjoy.  You have the honor of the king’s favor; but you know nothing about liberty, what relish it has and how sweet it is.  For if you had any knowledge of it, you yourself would advise us to defend it, not with lance and shield, but with our very teeth and nails.”

—Étienne de la Boétie, The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude

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