“It's your nature to be Tirin, and my nature to be Shevek, and our common nature to be Odonians, responsible to one another. And that responsibility is our freedom. To avoid it, would be to lose our freedom. Would you really like to live in a society where you have no responsibility and no freedom, no choice, only the false option of obedience to the law, or disobedience followed by punishment? Would you really want to go live in a prison?”

“Would you really like to live in a society where you have no responsibility and no freedom, no choice, only the false option of obedience to the law, or disobedience followed by punishment? Would you really want to go live in a prison?”

“If there was only one solitary being on this planet or only a few who would never meet, then freedom would be unquestionably absolute, but in a society where two or more beings must interact, freedom becomes dynamic. We cannot secure our own freedom while we challenge the freedom of another. No one truly has freedom outside of their own existence, their personal beliefs, and decisions made for their own lives. When we raise an intention, a word, a hand, a weapon or any other force against anyone else, we become equally and justifiably vulnerable. Freedom is not just a right, it is a responsibility.”

“Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.”

“Nevertheless we are free individuals, and this freedom condemns us to make choices throughout our lives. There are no eternal values or norms we can adhere to, which makes our choices even more significant. Because we are totally responsible for everything we do. Sartre emphasized that man must never disclaim the responsibility for his actions. Nor can we avoid the responsibility of making our own choices on the grounds that we "must" go to work, or we "must" live up to certain middle-class expectations regarding how we should live. Those who thus slip into the anonymous masses will never be other than members of the impersonal flock, having fled from themselves into self-deception. On the other hand our freedom obliges us to make something of ourselves, to live "authentically" or "truly".”

“Once you have perceived that life is very cruel, the only response is to live with as much humanity, humour and freedom as you can.”