One can imagine the look the two lovers exchanged; it was like a flame, for virtuous lovers have not a shred of hypocrisy.
Honore De BalzacRead
Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques the inefficiency and ineptitude often found in large bureaucratic systems.
Honore De Balzac's statement, 'Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies,' highlights the disconnect between the vastness of bureaucratic institutions and the often limited vision and capabilities of the individuals who manage them. It suggests that while these organizations are complex and expansive, they are frequently run by underqualified people, leading to inefficiency and a lack of innovation.
Themes
BureaucracyInefficiencyCritiqueManagementSystems
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about company politics, one might say, 'Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies' to express frustration over unqualified leadership.
More from Honore De Balzac
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Marriage must incessantly contend with a monster that devours everything: familiarity.
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Who is to decide which is the grimmer sight: withered hearts, or empty skulls?
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However gross a man may be, the minute he expresses a strong and genuine affection, some inner secretion alters his features, animates his gestures, and colors his voice. The stupidest man will often, under the stress of passion, achieve heights of eloquence, in thought if not in language, and seem to move in some luminous sphere. Goriot's voice and gesture had at this moment the power of communication that characterizes the great actor. Are not our finer feelings the poems of the human will?
Honore De BalzacRead
Love is a religion, and its rituals cost more than those of other religions. It goes by quickly and, like a street urchin, it likes to mark its passage by a trail of devastation.
Honore De BalzacRead
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