Freedom (n.): To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.

Cast as a mock “dictionary” entry, the line compresses a stark, self-reliant ideal of freedom: the freer a person is, the less they petition others, anticipate unearned provision, or tie their survival to another’s will. It frames dependence—material, emotional, or political—as a kind of bondage, because needing favors or guarantees invites control by whoever can grant or withhold them. The aphorism also carries a polemical edge: it rejects the notion that freedom is secured by claims on society (entitlements, protection from risk, or others’ sacrifices). Instead, it defines liberty as independence of need, emphasizing personal responsibility and the refusal to live by permission or subsidy.