"Rights and Obligations" (1949)
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The dilemma of reconciling political equality with political liberty was always resolved, down to the time of J. S. Mill, by defining liberty as freedom to do everything that did not restrict the liberty of others. But when equality comes to mean economic equality―or at any rate some enforced mitigation of economic inequality―and when liberty comes to mean something like liberty of opportunity, or free and equal access to the good things which society has to offer, the relation between equality and liberty takes on a new and much more baffling complexion.

— E. H. Carr

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The dilemma of reconciling political equality with political liberty was always resolved, down to the time of J. S. Mill, by defining liberty as freedom to do everything that did not restrict the liberty of others. But when equality comes to mean economic equality―or at any rate some enforced mitigation of economic inequality―and when liberty comes to mean something like liberty of opportunity, or free and equal access to the good things which society has to offer, the relation between equality and liberty takes on a new and much more baffling complexion." in the context of ""Rights and Obligations" (1949)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "E. H. Carr" (Quotes, From Napoleon to Stalin and Other Essays (1980)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
E. H. Carr

About E. H. Carr

Edward Hallett "Ted" Carr, CBE (28 June 1892 – 3 November 1982) was an English historian, diplomat, journalist and international relations theorist.