--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A bureaucrat is an official who is…" description: "\"A bureaucrat is an official who is clothed with power and whom it doesn't fit.\" — Evan Esar" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/evan-esar-1689_bureaucracy_a-bureaucrat-is-an-official-who-is-cloth_2283338.jpg" --- # A bureaucrat is an official who is clothed with power and… ![“A bureaucrat is an official who is clothed with power and whom it doesn't fit.” quote by Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/evan-esar-1689_bureaucracy_a-bureaucrat-is-an-official-who-is-cloth_2283338.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/evan-esar-1689_bureaucracy_a-bureaucrat-is-an-official-who-is-cloth_2283338.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/evan-esar-1689_bureaucracy_a-bureaucrat-is-an-official-who-is-cloth_2283338.jpg) > “A bureaucrat is an official who is clothed with power and whom it doesn't fit.” [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Power without competence creates absurdity; authority should match ability. **In simple terms:** Power must fit the person. Key Takeaway Seek roles that match your skills. Themes authority competence absurdity Mood skeptical critical Type satirical observational When to use this quote - government jobs - corporate management - leadership appointments Key Concepts bureaucracy role suitability Questions to Reflect On - Do you feel your role matches your abilities? - How can institutions ensure fit? A Different Perspective Even fitting power can be misused. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bureaucracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucracy/) [Bureaucrat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucrat/) [Bureaucrat Official](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucrat-official-5337024/) [Bureaucrats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucrats/) [Clothed Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clothed-power-5337026/) [Fit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fit/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Official](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/official/) [Official Clothed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/official-clothed-5337025/) [Officials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/officials/) ## Related quotes > [It saddens me when public officials and bureaucrats are criticized for ulterior motives, none of which I have ever found in a government bureaucrat,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-k-powell/it-saddens-me-when-public-officials-and-bureaucrats-are-criticized/) [Michael K. Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-k-powell/) > [The clear, unmistakable sign of a bureaucrat is somebody who worries about whether he has a window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-kelleher/the-clear-unmistakable-sign-of-a-bureaucrat-is-somebody-who-worries/) [Herb Kelleher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-kelleher/) > [...the best definition that I heard of that is that a bureaucrat is a Democrat who has a job that a Republican wants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alben-w-barkley/the-best-definition-that-i-heard-of-that-is-that-a-bureaucrat-is-a/) [Alben W. Barkley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alben-w-barkley/) > [What can I do if everyone from the president to a junior bureaucrat is dying to convict me. If I am such a criminal,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asif-ali-zardari/what-can-i-do-if-everyone-from-the-president-to-a-junior-bureaucrat/) [Asif Ali Zardari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asif-ali-zardari/) > [It is highly improbable that the bureaucrat will put his life on the line. It is absolutely impossible that he'll put his job on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/it-is-highly-improbable-that-the-bureaucrat-will-put-his-life-on-the/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [Never give a bureaucrat a chance to say no.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morton-blackwell/never-give-a-bureaucrat-a-chance-to-say-no/) [Morton Blackwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morton-blackwell/) > [It's a poor bureaucrat who can't stall a good idea until even its sponsor is relieved to see it dead and officially buried.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-townsend/it-s-a-poor-bureaucrat-who-can-t-stall-a-good-idea-until-even-its/) [Robert Townsend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-townsend/) > [The true bureaucrat is a man of really remarkable talents. He writes a kind of English that is unknown elsewhere in the world, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-true-bureaucrat-is-a-man-of-really-remarkable-talents-he-writes-a/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [A bureaucrat's idea of cleaning up his files is to make a copy of every paper before he destroys it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-j-peter/a-bureaucrat-s-idea-of-cleaning-up-his-files-is-to-make-a-copy-of/) [Laurence J. Peter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-j-peter/) > [The bureaucrat is not free to aim at improvement. He is bound to obey rules and regulations established by a superior body. He has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/the-bureaucrat-is-not-free-to-aim-at-improvement-he-is-bound-to-obey/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [The only good bureaucrat is one with a pistol at his head. Put it in his hand and it's good-bye to the Bill of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-only-good-bureaucrat-is-one-with-a-pistol-at-his-head-put-it-in/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [A BUSINESSMAN cannot force you to buy his product; if he makes a mistake, He suffers the consequences; if he fails, he takes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-businessman-cannot-force-you-to-buy-his-product-if-he-makes-a/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [A bureaucrat is one who has the power to say "no" but none to say "yes."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-l-ackoff/a-bureaucrat-is-one-who-has-the-power-to-say-no-but-none-to-say-yes/) [Russell L. Ackoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-l-ackoff/) > [“But just imagine how hard you would be to watch if you had a whole office building jammed to the rafters with industrial bureaucrats—men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/but-just-imagine-how-hard-you-would-be-to-watch-if-you-had-a-whole/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Mr. Constant,” he said, “right now you’re as easy for the Bureau of Internal Revenue to watch as a man on a street corner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/mr-constant-he-said-right-now-you-re-as-easy-for-the-bureau-of/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) ## More by Evan Esar > [Life is a battle of wits, and many people have to fight it unarmed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/life-is-a-battle-of-wits-and-many-people-have-to-fight-it-unarmed/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [A vacation is like love - anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort, and remembered with nostalgia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/a-vacation-is-like-love-anticipated-with-pleasure-experienced-with/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [Las Vegas is a resort whose two chief sources of income are seven and eleven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/las-vegas-is-a-resort-whose-two-chief-sources-of-income-are-seven-and/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [It's not the loss of life that makes the death bitter -- it's the obituaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/it-s-not-the-loss-of-life-that-makes-the-death-bitter-it-s-the/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [“Let those who want to, arrive Let those who want to, leave Let those who want to, stay With out harm to me or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/let-those-who-want-to-arrive-let-those-who-want-to-leave-let-those/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [The only medicine that needs no prescription, has no unpleasant taste, and costs no money is laughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/the-only-medicine-that-needs-no-prescription-has-no-unpleasant-taste/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [The word impossible is peculiar because if you examine it closely, you'll find that most of it is possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/the-word-impossible-is-peculiar-because-if-you-examine-it-closely-you/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [Walking isn't a lost art: one must, by some means, get to the garage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/walking-isn-t-a-lost-art-one-must-by-some-means-get-to-the-garage/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [There are two kinds of leaders: those who are interested in the flock, and those who are interested in the fleece.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/there-are-two-kinds-of-leaders-those-who-are-interested-in-the-flock/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [The man who avoids debt doesn't have to worry about avoiding his creditors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/the-man-who-avoids-debt-doesn-t-have-to-worry-about-avoiding-his/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [The diamond is the hardest stone -- to get.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/the-diamond-is-the-hardest-stone-to-get/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [The lecturer who is full of his subject is usually very slow in emptying himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/the-lecturer-who-is-full-of-his-subject-is-usually-very-slow-in/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [Etymology: from Latin ad-, "to" + visum, past participle of videre, "to see". Advice is what you get from your parents when you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/etymology-from-latin-ad-to-visum-past-participle-of-videre-to-see/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [A husband may forget where he went on his honeymoon, but he never forgets why.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/a-husband-may-forget-where-he-went-on-his-honeymoon-but-he-never/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [You can always tell the golfer who's winning: he's the one who keeps telling his opponent that it's only a game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/you-can-always-tell-the-golfer-who-s-winning-he-s-the-one-who-keeps/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) [Explore all 215 Evan Esar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) ## More Bureaucracy quotes > [ When the fountains of government \[borrowing\] abundance began to dry up, when through lack of funds and the impossibility of negotiating fresh loans the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-t-flynn/when-the-fountains-of-government-borrowing-abundance-began-to-dry-up/) [John T. Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-t-flynn/) > [There's nothing wrong with the Democratic Party that talks more about - and more loudly about - jobs, and cutting red tape, and bureaucracy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hickenlooper/there-s-nothing-wrong-with-the-democratic-party-that-talks-more-about/) [John Hickenlooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hickenlooper/) > [Socialism would gather all power to the supreme party and party leaders, rising like stately pinnacles above their vast bureaucracies of civil servants no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/socialism-would-gather-all-power-to-the-supreme-party-and-party/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [I believe that government should confine itself to the public realm and that it should be as stripped down as possible, within reason. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/i-believe-that-government-should-confine-itself-to-the-public-realm/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [I think Kafka was right when he said that for a modern, secular, nonreligious man, state bureaucracy is the only remaining contact with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/i-think-kafka-was-right-when-he-said-that-for-a-modern-secular/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [If there's one thing you should know about me it's that I'm utterly unsuited for bureaucracy. I don't know my passwords to anything. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-torres/if-there-s-one-thing-you-should-know-about-me-it-s-that-i-m-utterly/) [Julio Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-torres/) > [ \[The Utopia of Rules\] should offer a challenge to us all. Should we just accept this bureaucracy as inevitable? Or is there a way… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-tett/the-utopia-of-rules-should-offer-a-challenge-to-us-all-should-we-just/) [Gillian Tett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-tett/) > [“Catholics form a majority in Chile, although there are more and more Evangelicals and Pentacostals who irritate everyone because they have a direct understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/catholics-form-a-majority-in-chile-although-there-are-more-and-more/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [“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/) > [Trump conducts meetings and actually tries to get something done rather than just have the meeting and rather than just announce a framework and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/trump-conducts-meetings-and-actually-tries-to-get-something-done/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [So many signatures for such a small heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/so-many-signatures-for-such-a-small-heart/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [“Uniformity in the common law, consisting of broad principles like the "reasonable person" standard, generally permits adjustment for the circumstances. This type of uniform…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-howard/uniformity-in-the-common-law-consisting-of-broad-principles-like-the/) [Philip K. Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-howard/) > [“It is horrible to think that the world could one day be filled with nothing but those little cogs, little men clinging to little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-weber/it-is-horrible-to-think-that-the-world-could-one-day-be-filled-with/) [Max Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-weber/) > [“Bureaucracy will be the deity of the twentieth century.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-ter-esterh-zy/bureaucracy-will-be-the-deity-of-the-twentieth-century/) [Péter Esterházy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-ter-esterh-zy/) > [the greater the bureaucratization of public life, the greater will be the attraction of violence. In a fully developed bureaucracy there is nobody left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-greater-the-bureaucratization-of-public-life-the-greater-will-be/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) [Browse all 636 Bureaucracy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucracy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A bureaucrat is an official who is clothed with power and whom it doesn't fit.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Evan Esar" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/a-bureaucrat-is-an-official-who-is-clothed-with-power-and-whom-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bureaucracy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/a-bureaucrat-is-an-official-who-is-clothed-with-power-and-whom-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/evan-esar-1689_bureaucracy_a-bureaucrat-is-an-official-who-is-cloth_2283338.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/evan-esar-1689_bureaucracy_a-bureaucrat-is-an-official-who-is-cloth_2283338.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a6/evan-esar-1689_bureaucracy_a-bureaucrat-is-an-official-who-is-cloth_2283338.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A bureaucrat is an official who is clothed with power and whom it doesn't fit.” — Evan Esar", "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": "Evan Esar", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A bureaucrat is an official who...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/a-bureaucrat-is-an-official-who-is-clothed-with-power-and-whom-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/a-bureaucrat-is-an-official-who-is-clothed-with-power-and-whom-it/#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 } } ] } ```