A Quote by Havelock Ellis

The greatest task before civilization at present is to make machines what they ought to be, the slaves, instead of the masters of men. — © Havelock Ellis
The greatest task before civilization at present is to make machines what they ought to be, the slaves, instead of the masters of men.
I rejoice that horses and steers have to be broken before they can be made the slaves of men, and that men themselves have some wild oats still left to sow before they become submissive members of society. Undoubtedly, all men are not equally fit subjects for civilization; and because the majority, like dogs and sheep, are tame by inherited disposition, this is no reason why the others should have their natures broken that they may be reduced to the same level.
Back before our civilization despised itself, we applauded tough men. But you can't produce tough men - or honorable women - without tough love. If you want to keep civilization, you better start by insisting that boys grow up, instead of trying to infantilize them so they're afraid to stop sucking their thumbs.
Has not the experience of two centuries shown that gradualism in theory is perpetuity in practice? Is there an instance, in the history of the world, where slaves have been educated for freedom by their task-masters?
Automation does not need to be our enemy. I think machines can make life easier for men, if men do not let the machines dominate them.
No sublime wisdom asks to be worshipped or served; the greatest and the most honourable masters are those who refuse to have slaves!
Most of the slaves, who were thus unconditionally freed, returned without any solicitation to their former masters, to serve them, at stated wages; as free men. The work, which they now did, was found to better done than before.
The liberty of the individual is no gift of civilization. It was greatest before there was any civilization.
In supporting argument for segregation, Paul [the apostol] addresses the people in his epistle to the Colossians, and he tells them how to treat their slaves. "Slaves, obey your masters. Masters, be kind to yourslaves." Paul was in favor of a kinder and gentler slavery; it never occurred to him to raise the question about whether slavery itself was immoral.
Free election of masters does not abolish the masters or the slaves.
We do know that we can set certain algorithms for machines to do certain things - now that may be a simple task. A factory robot that moves one object from here to there. That's a very simple top-down solution. But when we start creating machines that learn for themselves, that is a whole new area that we've never been in before.
In war," answered the weaver, "the strong make slaves of the weak, and in peace the rich make slaves of the poor. We must work to live, and they give us such mean wages that we die. We toil for them all day long, and they heap up gold in their coffers, and our children fade away before their time, and the faces of those we love become hard and evil. We tread out the grapes, another drinks the wine. We sow the corn, and our own board is empty. We have chains, though no eye beholds them; and are slaves, though men call us free.
We are slaves in the hands of nature - slaves to a bit of bread, slaves to praise, slaves to blame, slaves to wife, to husband, to child, slaves to everything.
The liberty of the individual is no gift of civilization. It was greatest before there was any civilization, though then, it is true, it had for the most part no value, since the individual was scarcely in a position to defend it. The development of civilization imposes restrictions on it, and justice demands that no one shall escape those restrictions.
The slaves of developed industrial civilization are sublimated slaves.
It is unworthy of excellent men to lose hours like slaves in the labor of calculation which could be relegated to anyone else if machines were used.
The fact is, that civilization requires slaves. Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting work, culture and contemplation become almost impossible.
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