“ Men are like handsome race horses who first bite the bit and later like it, and rearing under the saddle a while soon learn to enjoy displaying their harness and prance proudly beneath their trappings. Similarly men will grow accustomed to the idea that they have always been in subjection, that their fathers lived in the same way ”
Étienne de La Boétie, Discourse on Voluntary Servitude (1576). copy citation
| Author | Étienne de La Boétie |
|---|---|
| Source | Discourse on Voluntary Servitude |
| Topic | learning father |
| Date | 1576 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Harry Kurz |
| Weblink | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Discourse_on_Voluntary_Servitude |
Context
“Let us therefore admit that all those things to which he is trained and accustomed seem natural to man and that only that is truly native to him which he receives with his primitive, untrained individuality. Thus custom becomes the first reason for voluntary servitude. Men are like handsome race horses who first bite the bit and later like it, and rearing under the saddle a while soon learn to enjoy displaying their harness and prance proudly beneath their trappings. Similarly men will grow accustomed to the idea that they have always been in subjection, that their fathers lived in the same way; they will think they are obliged to suffer this evil, and will persuade themselves by example and imitation of others, finally investing those who order them around with proprietary rights, based on the idea that it has always been that way.”
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