--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Intellectuals advertise their superiority…" description: "\"Intellectuals advertise their superiority to political practice but are absolutely in its thrall. It is no accident that Marxist theory and practice us..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/allan-bloom-4105_accidents_intellectuals-advertise-their-superiorit_2888206.png" --- # Intellectuals advertise their superiority to political… ![“Intellectuals advertise their superiority to political practice but are absolutely in its thrall. It is no accident that Marxist theory and practice use the intellectuals as tools and keep them in brutal subservience.” quote by Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/allan-bloom-4105_accidents_intellectuals-advertise-their-superiorit_2888206.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/allan-bloom-4105_accidents_intellectuals-advertise-their-superiorit_2888206.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17e/allan-bloom-4105_accidents_intellectuals-advertise-their-superiorit_2888206.png) > “Intellectuals advertise their superiority to political practice but are absolutely in its thrall. It is no accident that Marxist theory and practice use the intellectuals as tools and keep them in brutal subservience.” [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Intellectuals are co-opted by politics, losing independence and becoming tools of power. **In simple terms:** Intellectuals lose autonomy in politics. Key Takeaway Guard intellectual independence from political manipulation. Themes intellectual autonomy political power culture ideology critical thought Mood critical skeptical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - academic publishing - policy advising - media commentary - government advisory Key Concepts elitism co-optation ideological control Questions to Reflect On - How can scholars stay independent? - What safeguards protect academic freedom? A Different Perspective Intellectuals may still influence politics positively. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accidents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidents/) [Brutal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brutal/) [Intellectuals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectuals/) [Marxist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marxist/) [Marxist theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marxist-theory/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Practice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practice/) [Subservience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subservience/) [Theory and practice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory-and-practice/) [Tools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tools/) ## Related quotes > [“Anti-intellectualism has long been the anti-Semitism of the businessman," by which he meant that those at the top of the heap use intellectuals as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anti-intellectualism-has-long-been-the-anti-semitism-of-the-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We've no use for intellectuals in this outfit. 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It had begun in France in the 1960s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-harvey/the-1980s-witnessed-radical-advances-in-the-theorisation-of-the-study/) [Geoffrey Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-harvey/) > [It is necessary to master Marxist theory and apply it, master it for the sole purpose of applying it. If you can apply the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/it-is-necessary-to-master-marxist-theory-and-apply-it-master-it-for-2/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [“Morally, there was the extreme disappointment at the failure of the classical socialist ideal. The great ideal of Marxism had failed to materialize. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-r-c-hicks/morally-there-was-the-extreme-disappointment-at-the-failure-of-the/) [Stephen R.C. Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-r-c-hicks/) > [In a time in which Communist regimes have been rightfully discredited and yet alternatives to neoliberal capitalist societies are unwisely dismissed, I defend the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/in-a-time-in-which-communist-regimes-have-been-rightfully-discredited/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The Marxist theory of ideology is extremely contentious, not least because it is tied to socio-economic hypotheses that are no longer believable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/the-marxist-theory-of-ideology-is-extremely-contentious-not-least/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [It is necessary to master Marxist theory and apply it, master it for the sole purpose of applying it. If you can apply the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/it-is-necessary-to-master-marxist-theory-and-apply-it-master-it-for/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [Liberalism makes this mistake in regard to private property and Marxism makes it in regard to socialized property... The Marxist illusion is partly derived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/liberalism-makes-this-mistake-in-regard-to-private-property-and/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [“Charity could chatter dorm-room Marxist theory with the best of them, but a single look from cool, silver-haired Lady Beddington was enough to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-jane-howard/charity-could-chatter-dorm-room-marxist-theory-with-the-best-of-them/) [Elizabeth Jane Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-jane-howard/) > [The public school system: "Usually a twelve year sentence of mind control. Crushing creativity, smashing individualism, encouraging collectivism and compromise, destroying the exercise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-public-school-system-usually-a-twelve-year-sentence-of-mind/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [In any case, the fear of subservience is quite imaginary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/in-any-case-the-fear-of-subservience-is-quite-imaginary/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Those which defend liberty, equality and fraternity, seem to us superior to those which accept tyranny, the subservience of women, social and ethnic hatred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-gueant/those-which-defend-liberty-equality-and-fraternity-seem-to-us/) Claude Gueant > [We need worship for our spirit, fellowship for our soul and committed subservience for our body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-norman/we-need-worship-for-our-spirit-fellowship-for-our-soul-and-committed/) [Larry Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-norman/) ## More by Allan Bloom > [There is one thing a professor can be absolutely certain of: almost every student entering the university believes, or says he believes, that truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/there-is-one-thing-a-professor-can-be-absolutely-certain-of-almost/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Authentic values are those by which a life can be lived, which can form a people that produces great deeds and thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/authentic-values-are-those-by-which-a-life-can-be-lived-which-can/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Shakespeare's naturalness is attested to by the strange fact that he is the only classical author who remains popular. The critical termites are massed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/shakespeare-s-naturalness-is-attested-to-by-the-strange-fact-that-he/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [The utilitarian behaves sensibly in all that is required for preservation but never takes account of the fact that he must die...His whole life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-utilitarian-behaves-sensibly-in-all-that-is-required-for/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [The longing for Europe has been all but extinguished in the young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-longing-for-europe-has-been-all-but-extinguished-in-the-young/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Students now arrive at the university ignorant and cynical about our political heritage, lacking the wherewithal to be either inspired by it or seriously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/students-now-arrive-at-the-university-ignorant-and-cynical-about-our/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Human nature must not be altered in order to have a problem-free world. Man is not just a problem-solving being, as behaviorists would wish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/human-nature-must-not-be-altered-in-order-to-have-a-problem-free/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Never did I think that the university was properly ministerial to the society around it. Rather I thought and think that society is ministerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/never-did-i-think-that-the-university-was-properly-ministerial-to-the/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Reason cannot establish values, and its belief that it can is the stupidiest and most pernicious illusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/reason-cannot-establish-values-and-its-belief-that-it-can-is-the/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Fathers and mothers have lost the idea that the highest aspiration they might have for their children is for them to be wise... specialized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/fathers-and-mothers-have-lost-the-idea-that-the-highest-aspiration/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [As Western nations became more prosperous, leisure, which had been put off for several centuries in favor of the pursuit of property, the means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/as-western-nations-became-more-prosperous-leisure-which-had-been-put/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Historicism and cultural relativism actually are a means to avoid testing our own prejudices and asking, for example, whether men are really equal or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/historicism-and-cultural-relativism-actually-are-a-means-to-avoid/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [“Man requires a healing education which returns him to himself. 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