“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.”
Abraham Lincoln · Letter to Henry L. Pierce, 1859
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Nations grown corrupt love bondage more than liberty; bondage with ease than strenuous liberty.
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About this quote
Meaning
Milton observes a troubling pattern in human societies: when a people have been under oppression long enough, they can come to prefer their familiar chains over the uncertainty and effort that genuine freedom demands. Liberty, in his view, requires active participation and moral strength, qualities that can erode under prolonged tyranny. The quote suggests that bondage is not only a political condition but also a psychological one.
Context
These words come from a political pamphlet Milton published in 1660, as England faced the restoration of the monarchy following the period of the Commonwealth. Milton had been a committed supporter of the republican experiment and was deeply dismayed to see the English people apparently willing to return to royal rule. The pamphlet was a last-ditch argument for preserving the republic, and the passage reflects his frustration with what he saw as a failure of civic courage and political imagination in the nation.
About the author
John Milton was a seventeenth-century English poet and polemicist, best known today for his epic poem Paradise Lost. Beyond his literary achievements, he was an active participant in the political and religious controversies of his time, writing extensively in defense of civil and religious liberties, including freedom of the press. His life spanned one of the most turbulent periods in English history, and his writing reflects both his passionate convictions and his deep classical learning.
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