But I was immobilized–less by another’s static imposition than by my own static will. For the enemy had in thrall my power to choose, which he had used to make a chain for binding me. From bad choices an urge arises; and the urge, yielded to, becomes a compulsion; and the compulsion, unresisted, becomes a slavery–each link in this process connected with the others, which is why I call it a chain–and that chain had a tyrannical grip around me. The new will I felt stirring in me, a will to 'give you free worship' and enjoy what I yearned for, my God, my only reliable happiness, could not break away from the will made strong by long dominance. Two wills were mine, old and new, of the flesh, of the spirit, each warring on the other, and between their dissonances was my soul disintegrating. Augustine Of Hippo
About This Quote

In this quote from the novel "The Dispossessed", Ursula K. Le Guin illustrates the process of coercion, as described by her protagonist, Joe, as he feels his own will being overpowered by the will of the tyrant he has encountered. The novel is a study of the way that a person's will can be bound to another or coerced into submission. This idea is also illustrated in other works, such as "The Matrix," where humans are bound to a computer system and have no real control over their own actions, and thus have no free will.

Source: Confessions

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