Themes · 1730
Man is free at the instant he wants to be.
— Voltaire · Brutus
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The speaker argues that freedom is chiefly a matter of will: a person becomes free the moment they truly desire it. On this view, the obstacles to liberty lie less in outside circumstances than in hesitation, and wanting freedom wholeheartedly is already the decisive step toward having it.
Context reviewed