'He’s a free man because he gives away freely.
I’m beginning to understand the trick of freedom. Freedom can’t be a
residue of what was unfreely given up, divided up like a fought-over
loaf. Every giving up has to be self-willed, freely chosen,
unenforceable. Each of us must forgo only what we choose to forgo,
balancing our personal freedom of action against our need for the
cooperation of other people- who are each making the same balance for
themselves. What is the largest number of individuals who can pull this
trick off? I would say it’s smaller than a nation, smaller than the
ideal communities of Cabet or Fourier. I would say the largest number
is smaller than three. Two is possible, if there is love, but two is
not a guarantee.'
[Tom Stoppard - The Coast of Utopia: Shipwreck]
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