--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The State is a collection of officials…" description: "\"The State is a collection of officials, different for difference purposes, drawing comfortable incomes so long as the status quo is preserved. The only..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f1/bertrand-russell-69_alterations_the-state-is-a-collection-of-officials-d_3111288.jpg" --- # The State is a collection of officials, different for… ![“The State is a collection of officials, different for difference purposes, drawing comfortable incomes so long as the status quo is preserved. The only alteration they are likely to desire in the status quo is an increase of bureaucracy and the power of bureaucrats.” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f1/bertrand-russell-69_alterations_the-state-is-a-collection-of-officials-d_3111288.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f1/bertrand-russell-69_alterations_the-state-is-a-collection-of-officials-d_3111288.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f1/bertrand-russell-69_alterations_the-state-is-a-collection-of-officials-d_3111288.jpg) > “The State is a collection of officials, different for difference purposes, drawing comfortable incomes so long as the status quo is preserved. The only alteration they are likely to desire in the status quo is an increase of bureaucracy and the power of bureaucrats.” [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Bureaucracy preserves its own power, often expanding for its own sake. **In simple terms:** Bureaucrats seek to grow power. Key Takeaway Question authority and demand accountability. Themes politics power bureaucracy Mood critical analytical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - government reform - citizen activism - organizational audits Key Concepts institutional inertia public administration Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance stability with reform? - What mechanisms limit bureaucratic growth? A Different Perspective May ignore benefits of stable administration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bureaucracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucracy/) [Bureaucrats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucrats/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Income](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/income/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Status quo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/status-quo/) ## Related quotes > [I am interested in power, too, but power for you, the people, not power for bureaucrats and politicians and officeholders and all the like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/i-am-interested-in-power-too-but-power-for-you-the-people-not-power/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Our elected officials must understand that we, the American people, expect them to perform the duties of their office, even when that means working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reid-hoffman/our-elected-officials-must-understand-that-we-the-american-people/) [Reid Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reid-hoffman/) > [The power of the corporate bureaucracy - the power of technostructure (a term that did not take off) - is something to which I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/the-power-of-the-corporate-bureaucracy-the-power-of-technostructure-a/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [“Authorities this broad give the national security bureaucracy the power to scrutinize the personal lives of every law-abiding American. Allowing that to continue is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-wyden/authorities-this-broad-give-the-national-security-bureaucracy-the/) [Ron Wyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-wyden/) > [“By exiling human judgment in the last few decades, modern law changed role from useful tool to brainless tyrant. This legal regime will never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-howard/by-exiling-human-judgment-in-the-last-few-decades-modern-law-changed/) [Philip K. Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-howard/) > [America isn't Wollman Rink, but I think almost everybody watching, and certainly the people who voted for him, have had frustrating experiences with bureaucrats…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-solman/america-isn-t-wollman-rink-but-i-think-almost-everybody-watching-and/) [Paul Solman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-solman/) > [Bureaucrats live on the fat of the land, while the rest of us stay skinny laboring to pay their salaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-e-mckenzie/bureaucrats-live-on-the-fat-of-the-land-while-the-rest-of-us-stay/) [Charles E. McKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-e-mckenzie/) > [I'm a novelist, and idle speculation is what novelists do. 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Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-r-ford/) > [The nearest thing to immortality in this world is a government bureau.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-s-johnson/the-nearest-thing-to-immortality-in-this-world-is-a-government-bureau/) [Hugh S. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-s-johnson/) > [“Plato argued that good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will always find a way around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-howard/plato-argued-that-good-people-do-not-need-laws-to-tell-them-to-act/) [Philip K. Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-howard/) ## More by Bertrand Russell > [ If the State does not acquire supremacy over \[vast private\] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy-over-vast-private-enterprises/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [That the world is in a bad shape is undeniable, but there is not the faintest reason in history to suppose that Christianity offers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/that-the-world-is-in-a-bad-shape-is-undeniable-but-there-is-not-the/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [All movements go too far.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/all-movements-go-too-far/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Those who advocate common usage in philosophy sometimes speak in a manner that suggests the mystique of the 'common man.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/those-who-advocate-common-usage-in-philosophy-sometimes-speak-in-a/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“Such, in outline, but even more purposeless, more void of meaning, is the world which Science presents for our belief. 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We can seek a period in the past whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/there-are-two-processes-which-we-adopt-consciously-or-unconsciously/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [The present Constitution, with a few alterations of a trifling nature, is just as good as we want; and if it is sustained on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigham-young/the-present-constitution-with-a-few-alterations-of-a-trifling-nature/) [Brigham Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigham-young/) > [My being consists of matter and form, that is, of soul and body; annihilation will reach neither of them, for they were never produced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/my-being-consists-of-matter-and-form-that-is-of-soul-and-body/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Every story is flawed, every story is subject to change. Even after it is set down to print, between covers of a book, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-richmond/every-story-is-flawed-every-story-is-subject-to-change-even-after-it/) [Michelle Richmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-richmond/) > [Human beings were not well served by permanence or stasis. Obviously, if individuals were progressing, they were undergoing a series of presumably desirable alterations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/human-beings-were-not-well-served-by-permanence-or-stasis-obviously/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Everything that makes diversity of kinds, of species, differences, properties... everything that consists in generation, decay, alteration and change is not an entity, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giordano-bruno/everything-that-makes-diversity-of-kinds-of-species-differences/) [Giordano Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giordano-bruno/) > [One of the pleasures of reading is seeing this alteration on the pages, and the way, by reading it, you have made the book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/one-of-the-pleasures-of-reading-is-seeing-this-alteration-on-the/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [Whether it is seen in personal terms or trans-personal terms, whether it is Heaven or Nirvana or Happy Hunting Ground or the Garden of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-smith/whether-it-is-seen-in-personal-terms-or-trans-personal-terms-whether/) [John Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-smith/) > [For a woman ... to explore and express the fullness of her sexuality, her ambitions, her emotional and intellectual capacities, her social duties, her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-j-kaplan/for-a-woman-to-explore-and-express-the-fullness-of-her-sexuality-her/) [Louise J. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-j-kaplan/) > [When it happens that a person has to give up a sexual object, there quite often ensues an alteration of his ego which can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/when-it-happens-that-a-person-has-to-give-up-a-sexual-object-there/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Reagan took an approach to the Cold War dramatically different from any other US President. To wit, he thought we should win. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-coulter/reagan-took-an-approach-to-the-cold-war-dramatically-different-from/) [Ann Coulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-coulter/) > [Contentment is never the outcome of fulfillment, of achievement, or of the possession of things; it is not born of action or inaction. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/contentment-is-never-the-outcome-of-fulfillment-of-achievement-or-of/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments: love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-me-not-to-the-marriage-of-true-minds-admit-impediments-love-is-2/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) Browse all 94 Alterations quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The State is a collection of officials, different for difference purposes, drawing comfortable incomes so long as the status quo is preserved. 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