They are for LICENSE not for liberty

Meaning & Analysis

The proverb claims that some people claim to desire liberty, but in reality seek license—that is, unrestrained indulgence or lawlessness rather than true freedom under order.

Insights

Misuse of Ideals

The proverb suggests that noble concepts like 'liberty' can be hijacked to justify selfishness or anarchy. It distinguishes between principled freedom and irresponsible indulgence.

False Pretenses

It implies that individuals may use the language of liberty to conceal their real aim: license—the desire to act without accountability or moral constraint.

Liberty versus Anarchy

The phrase contrasts legitimate freedom with chaos, asserting that liberty involves discipline and mutual respect, while license entails disregard for law, limits, or the common good.

Miltonic Moralism

John Milton's 1645 poem, from which this sentiment is drawn, reflects his deep concern with moral and political liberty. He distinguishes between liberty rooted in reason and virtue, and license driven by passion and disorder.

Revolutionary Context

Emerging during the English Civil War and in the broader context of 17th-century upheavals, this proverb critiques factions who cloaked radical or destructive aims in the rhetoric of liberty—warning against counterfeit freedom.

Philosophical Distinction

The liberty/license dichotomy echoes classical and Enlightenment distinctions—especially in Locke and Rousseau—between positive freedom (self-mastery and legal equality) and negative freedom (absence of restraint, often to harmful effect).

Ethical Vigilance

The proverb is a moral caution, urging listeners to scrutinize the motives behind calls for 'freedom,' and to differentiate between freedom as a social good and as a pretext for personal excess.

Rhetorical Devices

Antithesis

Juxtaposes 'license' and 'liberty'—two similar-sounding but ethically opposed concepts—to sharpen the moral distinction and highlight rhetorical manipulation.

Alliteration

The repeated 'l' sounds in 'license' and 'liberty' create a memorable phonetic pairing, reinforcing the conceptual contrast.

Ellipsis

The proverb’s concise form omits subjects and verbs ('They are for…'), lending it a clipped, forceful quality suitable for denunciation or political rhetoric.

libertylicensemoralityrhetoricpoliticsmilton

Analyzed with gpt-4o on July 10, 2025

Transcription

Quotations

License they mean when they cry libertie.

— 1645, MILTON, Poems (1673 ed.), Wks., Pt. I, I 63

— a1720, SHEFFIELD (DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM), Wks. (1753 ed.), I 272, quoted in Sm., p. 261.

Related Proverbs

T428 She smiles on everyone to show her fine TEETH 74.5%N355 A NURSE's tongue is privileged to talk 74.4%A80 The Barnwell¹ (Kentish) AGUE 73.6%P222 Among the common PEOPLE Scoggin¹ is a doctor 73.5%D590 If DREAMS and wishes were true there would hardly be found a maid in all the nunneries of Christendom 73.2%P378 To sing PLACEBO 72.9%F496 Let him be begged for a FOOL 72.6%A319 ARMOR is light at table 72.5%A280 To speak like an APOTHECARY 72.4%S225 Whited SEPULCHERS (Women are whited sepulchers) 72.2%F33 No FAITH with heretics 72.1%A4 He swears like an ABBOT (falconer, lord, tinker) 71.5%L104 The LAW is made a nose of wax 71.5%A220 An ALMOND for parrot 71.5%M894 Be thou sick or whole, put MERCURY in thy coal 71.0%A88 As free as the AIR (wind) 70.7%L299 LINCOLN shall be hanged for London's sake 70.6%F762 Trencher FRIENDSHIP 70.5%H532 Court HOLY WATER 70.5%D300 To play the DEVIL for God's sake 70.4%

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