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Truly to be free, my choices must truly be mine—must accord with the “me” with which I associate my core identity. I must make them in keeping with rational life plans. They cannot be triggered by invisible external or covert influences; they must make manifest a will that is unfettered yet rationally informed by life plans.

— Benjamin Barber An Aristocracy of Everyone (1992)

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More quotes by Benjamin Barber

Not only psychiatry itself but also the values reflected in its statistical definition of “normalcy” serve to condition men to habitual, unthinking, conformist behavior.

Forced to be Free (1971)

Jefferson thought schools would produce free men: we prove him right by putting dropouts in jail.

A Passion for Democracy: American Essays (2000)

Having created the conditions that make markets possible, democracy must do all the things that markets undo or cannot do.

Jihad vs. McWorld (1996)

We know ourselves by understanding our temporality, our embeddedness in time, our connection to roots—even roots from which we have knowingly severed ourselves.

An Aristocracy of Everyone (1992)

The real struggle is in fact not for but against the minds of men. Persuasion as a form of coercion represents an assault on consciousness and intentionality.

Forced to be Free (1971)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Benjamin Barber (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.