Coercion Quotes

A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. (John Steinbeck)
Fundamentally, there are only two ways of coordinating the economic activities of millions. One is central direction involving the use of coercion the technique of the army and of the modern totalitarian state. The other is voluntary cooperation of individuals the technique of the marketplace. View quote
Milton Friedman
One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect on me that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems dis. View quote
Albert Einstein
Because politics rests on an irreducible measure of coercion, it can never become a perfect realm of perfect love and justice. View quote
Christopher Lasch
Coercion cannot but result in chaos in the end. View quote
Mahatma Gandhi
Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
Justice, like liberty and coercion, is a concept which, for the sake of clarity, ought to be confined to the deliberate treatment of men by other men. View quote
Friedrich Hayek
Can the mind become completely still without coercion, without compulsion, without discipline? View quote
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Some paradox of our natures leads us, when once we have made our fellow men the objects of our enlightened interest, to go on to make them the objects of our pity, then of our wisdom, ultimately of our coercion. View quote
Lionel Trilling
If he who employs coercion against me could mould me to his purposes by argument, no doubt he would. He pretends to punish me because his argument is strong; but he really punishes me because his argument is weak. View quote
William Godwin
Briefly, the State is that organization in society which attempts to maintain a monopoly of the use of force and violence in a given territorial area; in particular, it is the only organization in society that obtains its revenue not by voluntary contribution or payment for services rendered but by coercion. (Murray Rothbard)
All social cooperation on a larger scale than the most intimate social group requires a measure of coercion. View quote
Reinhold Niebuhr
Political freedom means the absence of coercion of a man by his fellow men. The fundamental threat to freedom is power to coerce, be it in the hands of a monarch, a dictator, an oligarchy, or a momentary majority. The preservation of freedom requires the elimination of such concentration of power to the fullest possible extent and the dispersal and distribution of whatever power cannot be eliminated - a system of checks and balances. View quote
Milton Friedman
The exercise of one coercion always makes another inevitable. View quote
Anders Chydenius
History leaved no doubt that collective coercion and control is both the intent and effect of state surveillance. View quote
Glenn Greenwald
The capacity to resist coercion stems partly from the individual's identification with a group. View quote
Eric Hoffer
Governmental regulations all carry coercion to some degree, and even where they don't, they habituate man to expect teaching, guidance and help outside himself, instead of formulating his own. View quote
Wilhelm von Humboldt
It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wreck and ruin without fail. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty. View quote
Albert Einstein
To blend, without coercion, the individual good and the common good is the essence of citizenship in a free country. View quote
Dwight D. Eisenhower
The best way to guide children without coercion is to be ourselves. View quote
Madeleine L'Engle
If welfare and equality are to be primary aims of law, some people must necessarily possess a greater power of coercion in order to force redistribution of material goods. Political power alone should be equal among human beings; yet striving for other kinds of equality absolutely requires political inequality. (Tibor R. Machan)
True freedom is the capacity for acting according to one's true character, to be altogether one's self, to be self-determined and not subject to outside coercion. View quote
Corliss Lamont
Any action that is dictated by fear or by coercion of any kind ceases to be moral. View quote
Mahatma Gandhi
It is better to guide one soul than to possess all that is on earth, for as long as that guided soul is under the shadow of the Tree of Divine Unity, he and the one who hath guided him will both be recipients of God's tender mercy, whereas possession of earthly things will cease at the time of death. The path to guidance is one of love and compassion, not of force and coercion. This hath been God's method in the past, and shall continue to be in the future! View quote
Báb
Unfortunately, it is impossible for me to stand in person with the protesters outside Rabaa al-Adaweya square to echo their legitimate demands ... Egypt's current regime has ousted the first elected president in the country's history...There are limited options for those of us who care about Egypt's future: We can either side with civil values and democracy, or with military rule, tyranny, and coercion. View quote
Tawakkol Karman