I am nothing but I must be everything.
Karl MarxRead
The bureaucracy takes itself to be the ultimate purpose of the state
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights how bureaucracy can prioritize its own existence over serving the public good.
Karl Marx's observation reflects the tendency of bureaucratic systems to focus on their own maintenance and expansion rather than fulfilling their intended role of serving the state's citizens. He suggests that when bureaucracies become the ultimate aim of government, they can lose sight of their original mission to promote social welfare and justice.
Themes
BureaucracyStateGovernmentPublicPurpose
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about government reform, one might use this quote to criticize excessive bureaucracy.
More from Karl Marx
All quotes βReligion is the opiate of the people.
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It is absolutely impossible to transcend the laws of nature. What can change in historically different circumstances is only the form in which these laws expose themselves.
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Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living.
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To be radical is to grasp things by the root.
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Men's ideas are the most direct emanations of their material state.
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