--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She claimed that she was in the service…" description: "\"“She claimed that she was in the service of the workers, and yet, from her room in a house full of books and with a view of the sea, she wanted to comm..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/733/elena-ferrante-2338_books_she-claimed-that-she-was-in-the-service_832079.png" --- # She claimed that she was in the service of the workers… ![“She claimed that she was in the service of the workers, and yet, from her room in a house full of books and with a view of the sea, she wanted to command you, she wanted to tell you what you should do with your work, she decided for you, she had the solution ready even if you ended up in the street.” quote by Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/733/elena-ferrante-2338_books_she-claimed-that-she-was-in-the-service_832079.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/733/elena-ferrante-2338_books_she-claimed-that-she-was-in-the-service_832079.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/733/elena-ferrante-2338_books_she-claimed-that-she-was-in-the-service_832079.png) > ““She claimed that she was in the service of the workers, and yet, from her room in a house full of books and with a view of the sea, she wanted to command you, she wanted to tell you what you should do with your work, she decided for you, she had the solution ready even if you ended up in the street.”” [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A critique of pretentious intellectualism, exposing how someone in comfort can impose rigid solutions on those struggling. **In simple terms:** Comfortable people dictating solutions to the poor. Key Takeaway Question authority and seek authentic guidance. Themes class tension intellectual elitism power dynamics Mood critical reflective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - workplace meetings - community activism - policy debates Key Concepts social critique authoritarianism solipsism Questions to Reflect On - Who truly understands your struggle? - How can you assert autonomy? A Different Perspective Even well‑intentioned advice can be oppressive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [I suppose if I was to have to pick a few, Ursula LeGuin would have to top the list. 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They come home tired after providing services and producing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-schakowsky/food-service-workers-home-care-workers-farm-workers-and-other-low/) [Jan Schakowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-schakowsky/) > [Retired public service workers make up the backbone of the middle class in so many of our communities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-lightfoot/retired-public-service-workers-make-up-the-backbone-of-the-middle/) [Lori Lightfoot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-lightfoot/) > [My impression is that most women public service workers have a long fuse. Precisely because they care so deeply about services, more than anyone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-o-grady/my-impression-is-that-most-women-public-service-workers-have-a-long/) [Frances O'Grady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-o-grady/) > [“Dehumanizing service workers looks to me to be mostly about insecurity”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/finn-murphy/dehumanizing-service-workers-looks-to-me-to-be-mostly-about-insecurity/) [Finn Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/finn-murphy/) > [“If you ask people where they go when they really need to get work done, very few will respond “the office.” If they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-ask-people-where-they-go-when-they-really-need-to-get-work/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Doing something you enjoy at times of your own choosing and making a living from it: now tell me, is that work?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/doing-something-you-enjoy-at-times-of-your-own-choosing-and-making-a/) [Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/) > [Any time you have to tell work where you're at and what you're doing, that's considered an employee, not a contractor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-j-dillashaw/any-time-you-have-to-tell-work-where-you-re-at-and-what-you-re-doing/) [T.J. Dillashaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-j-dillashaw/) > [“Don’t tell ever "Only I can do that work", tell always "I can do that work also”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiranjit-paul/don-t-tell-ever-only-i-can-do-that-work-tell-always-i-can-do-that/) [Chiranjit Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiranjit-paul/) > [“Sometimes everything you know in the world turns out to be a lie. But at the end of the day the lie isn’t what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-estheim/sometimes-everything-you-know-in-the-world-turns-out-to-be-a-lie-but/) Hope Estheim > [I've always tried to tell myself that the work itself is the thing, that win, lose, or draw, the work is really what counts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-erving/i-ve-always-tried-to-tell-myself-that-the-work-itself-is-the-thing/) [Julius Erving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-erving/) > [“Human beings want to know where things came from, how they were made, and who made them. The stories you tell about the work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-kleon/human-beings-want-to-know-where-things-came-from-how-they-were-made/) [Austin Kleon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-kleon/) > [Human beings have a physical need to tell themselves when at work: "Let's have done with it now," and it's having constantly to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/human-beings-have-a-physical-need-to-tell-themselves-when-at-work-let/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself, "I have to go to work - as a human being. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/at-dawn-when-you-have-trouble-getting-out-of-bed-tell-yourself-i-have/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) ## More by Elena Ferrante > [The circle of an empty day is brutal and at night it tightens around your neck like a noose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/the-circle-of-an-empty-day-is-brutal-and-at-night-it-tightens-around/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“Quanto a mim, várias vezes ao dia me acontece de gostar de alguém. Você não? Durante pouco tempo, depois passa.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/quanto-a-mim-v-rias-vezes-ao-dia-me-acontece-de-gostar-de-algu-m-voc/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“Svakog dana sam sebi ponavljala: to sam što sam, i nema mi druge nego da se s tim pomirim; takva sam rođena, u ovom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/svakog-dana-sam-sebi-ponavljala-to-sam-to-sam-i-nema-mi-druge-nego-da/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“We have too much stuff inside and it swells us, breaks us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/we-have-too-much-stuff-inside-and-it-swells-us-breaks-us/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“To be born in that city is useful for only one thing: to have always known, almost instinctively, what today, with endless fine distinctions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/to-be-born-in-that-city-is-useful-for-only-one-thing-to-have-always/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [As a girl - twelve, thirteen years old - I was absolutely certain that a good book had to have a man as its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/as-a-girl-twelve-thirteen-years-old-i-was-absolutely-certain-that-a/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“Religion will disappear from men's consciousness when, finally, we have constructed a world of equals, without class distinctions, and with a sound of scientific…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/religion-will-disappear-from-men-s-consciousness-when-finally-we-have/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [Elena Ferrante is the author of several novels. There is nothing mysterious about her, given how she manifests herself - perhaps even too much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/elena-ferrante-is-the-author-of-several-novels-there-is-nothing/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [Women, in all fields - whether mothers or not - still encounter an extraordinary number of obstacles. They have to hold too many things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/women-in-all-fields-whether-mothers-or-not-still-encounter-an/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“Once, she closed the book abruptly and said with annoyance, "That's enough." "Why?" "Because I've had it, it's always the same story: inside something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/once-she-closed-the-book-abruptly-and-said-with-annoyance-that-s/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“She became transparent skin over bones, her eyes drowning in violet wells, her hands damp spider webs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/she-became-transparent-skin-over-bones-her-eyes-drowning-in-violet/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“When you haven’t been in the world long, it’s hard to comprehend what disasters are at the origin of a sense of disaster: maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/when-you-haven-t-been-in-the-world-long-it-s-hard-to-comprehend-what/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“As long as one writes only for oneself, writing is a free act by means of which, to use an oxymoron, one secretly opens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/as-long-as-one-writes-only-for-oneself-writing-is-a-free-act-by-means/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [“We had the same sensitivity to beautiful things, the same need to enjoy them, the same need to search for the right words to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/we-had-the-same-sensitivity-to-beautiful-things-the-same-need-to/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [Writers, because they write, are condemned never to be readers of their own stories...The memory of first putting a story into words will always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/writers-because-they-write-are-condemned-never-to-be-readers-of-their/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) [Explore all 122 Elena Ferrante quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“She claimed that she was in the service of the workers, and yet, from her room in a house full of books and with a view of the sea, she wanted to command you, she wanted to tell you what you should do with your work, she decided for you, she had the solution ready even if you ended up in the street.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elena Ferrante" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/she-claimed-that-she-was-in-the-service-of-the-workers-and-yet-from/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/she-claimed-that-she-was-in-the-service-of-the-workers-and-yet-from/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/733/elena-ferrante-2338_books_she-claimed-that-she-was-in-the-service_832079.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/733/elena-ferrante-2338_books_she-claimed-that-she-was-in-the-service_832079.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/733/elena-ferrante-2338_books_she-claimed-that-she-was-in-the-service_832079.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“She claimed that she was in the service of the workers, and yet, from her room in a house full of books and…” — Elena Ferrante", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Elena Ferrante", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“She claimed that she was in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/she-claimed-that-she-was-in-the-service-of-the-workers-and-yet-from/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/she-claimed-that-she-was-in-the-service-of-the-workers-and-yet-from/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```