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Quote#Death

The old notion that the savage is the freest of mankind is the…

Quote byJames George Frazer · 1854–1941

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Golden Bough (1890), Chapter 3, Sympathetic Magic (See also: the Noble savage)..

English (original)

The old notion that the savage is the freest of mankind is the reverse of the truth. He is a slave, not indeed to a visible master, but to the past, to the spirits of his dead forefathers, who haunt his steps from birth to death, and rule him with a rod of iron.

— James George Frazer

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