What a curious phenomenon it is that you can get men to die for the liberty of the world who will not make the little sacrifice that is needed to free themselves from their own individual bondage.

Barton contrasts public heroism with private self-discipline. He marvels that people will accept the ultimate sacrifice—dying for a grand, collective ideal like “the liberty of the world”—yet resist comparatively small, everyday sacrifices that would liberate them from “individual bondage” (habits, fears, addictions, debt, complacency, or moral weakness). The quote implies that personal freedom is often won not by dramatic gestures but by sustained, modest acts of will. It also carries a moral critique: societies may celebrate external liberty while tolerating inner servitude, and individuals may romanticize distant causes to avoid the harder work of reforming themselves.