"The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous…

“The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly” is a saying that has been printed on many images.

Robert Anton Wilson (1932-2007) and Robert Shea (1933-1994) wrote in The Illuminatus! Trilogy (part two, The Golden Apple) in 1975:

“It seems at first glance that authority could not exist at all if all men were cowards or if no men were cowards, but flourishes as it does because most men are cowards and some men are thieves. Actually, the inner dynamics of cowardice and submission on the one hand and of heroism and rebellion on the other are seldom consciously realized either by the ruling class or the servile class. Submission is identified not with cowardice but with virtue, rebellion not with heroism but with evil. To the Roman slave-owners, Spartacus was not a hero and the obedient slaves were not cowards; Spartacus was a villain and the obedient slaves were virtuous. The obedient slaves believed this also. The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly.”

Wikipedia: The Illuminatus! Trilogy
The Illuminatus! Trilogy is a series of three novels by American writers Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, first published in 1975. The trilogy is a satirical, postmodern, science fiction–influenced adventure story; a drug-, sex-, and magic-laden trek through a number of conspiracy theories, both historical and imaginary, related to the authors’ version of the Illuminati. The narrative often switches between third- and first-person perspectives in a nonlinear narrative. It is thematically dense, covering topics like counterculture, numerology, and Discordianism.

The trilogy comprises three parts which contain five books and appendices: The Eye in the Pyramid (first two books), The Golden Apple (third and part of fourth book), Leviathan (part of fourth and all of fifth book, and the appendices). The parts were first published as three separate volumes starting in September 1975

Wikipedia: Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American author, futurist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson helped publicize Discordianism through his writings and interviews.

Wikipedia: Robert Shea
Robert Joseph Shea (February 14, 1933 – March 10, 1994) was an American novelist and former journalist best known as co-author with Robert Anton Wilson of the science fantasy trilogy Illuminatus!. It became a cult success and was later turned into a marathon-length stage show put on at the British National Theatre and elsewhere. In 1986 it won the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award. Shea went on to write several action novels based in exotic historical settings.

OCLC WorldCat record
The Illuminatus! Part II: The golden apple
Author: Robert Shea; Robert Anton Wilson
Publisher: Dell Publishing Company, ©1975.
Series: Dell trade paperback
Edition/Format: Print book : Fiction : English
Amazon.com
Pg. 794

Google Groups: no.religion
Gud er Død! (Lang)
Rorschach93
Apr 16, 1998, 3:00:00 AM
****Der fikk jeg oppmerksomheten din….****
Excerpts from ``Never Whistle While You’re Pissing’‘
by Hagbard Celine

From the Illuminatus! Trilogy (by Robert Anton Wilson)
(...)
It seems at first glance that authority could not exist at all if all men were cowards or if no men were cowards, but flourishes as it does because most men are cowards and some men are thieves. Actually, the inner dynamics of cowardice and submission on the one hand and of heroism and rebellion on the other are seldom consciously realized either by the ruling class or the servile class. Submission is identified not with cowardice but with virtue, rebellion not with heroism but with evil. To the Roman slave-owners, Spartacus was not a hero and the obedient slaves were not cowards; Spartacus was a villain and the obedient slaves were virtuous. The obedient slaves believed this also. The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly.

If authority implies submission, liberation implies equality; authority exist when one man obeys another, and liberty exists when men do not obey other men. Thus, to say that authority exists is to say that class and caste exis, that submission and inequality exist. To say the liberty exists is to that classlessness exists, to say that brotherhood and equality exist. Authority, by dividing men into classes, creates dichotomy, disruption, hostility, fear, disunion. Liberty, by placing men on an equal footing, creates association, amalgamation, union, security. When the relationships between men are based on authority and coercion, they are driven apart; when based on liberty and non-aggression, they are drawn together. The facts are self-evident and axiomatic. If authoritarianism did not possess the in-built, preprogrammed double-bind structure of a Game Without End, men would long ago have rejected it and embraced libertarianism.

Twitter
Sonya Kahn
@SonyaKahnMusic
“The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly.” - Robert Anton Wilson
6:45 PM · Oct 24, 2009·Twitter Web Client

Google Books
Wise Quotes of Wisdom:
A Lifetime Collection of Quotes
By R.A. Wise
Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse
2011
Pg. 210:
The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly. –Robert Shea & Anton Wilson

Twitter
Paul Joseph Watson
@PrisonPlanet
“The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly.”
- Robert Anton Wilson
6:29 AM · Oct 15, 2021·Twitter Web App

Twitter
Robert Anton Wilson
@RAWilson23
Re: That RAW quote getting used to push an incongruous agenda:
“The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly.”
Obedience to diametrically opposed ideologies cuts both ways. Oppositional defiance does not instantly qualify as free thought nor bravery.
1:38 PM · Oct 16, 2021·TweetDeck

Twitter
conspiracybot
@conspiracyb0t
The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly.
1:16 AM · Dec 27, 2021·conspiracyb0t

The Patriot Post
APRIL 25, 2022
It’s Like This
(The following text is shown on an image.—ed.)
THE OBEDIENT
ALWAYS THINK OF
THEMSELVES AS
VIRTUOUS RATHER
THAN COWARDLY.