--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The State is not, as many political…" description: "\"The State is not, as many political scientists would make it, an inanimate thing; it consists of people, human beings, each of whom operates under an i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6d/frank-chodorov-17300_compulsion_the-state-is-not-as-many-political-scien_2226525.jpg" --- # The State is not, as many political scientists would make… ![“The State is not, as many political scientists would make it, an inanimate thing; it consists of people, human beings, each of whom operates under an inner compulsion to get the most out of life with the least expenditure of labor.” quote by Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6d/frank-chodorov-17300_compulsion_the-state-is-not-as-many-political-scien_2226525.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6d/frank-chodorov-17300_compulsion_the-state-is-not-as-many-political-scien_2226525.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6d/frank-chodorov-17300_compulsion_the-state-is-not-as-many-political-scien_2226525.jpg) > “The State is not, as many political scientists would make it, an inanimate thing; it consists of people, human beings, each of whom operates under an inner compulsion to get the most out of life with the least expenditure of labor.” [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The state is a collective of individuals driven by self‑interest, not a lifeless entity. **In simple terms:** People make up the state, each seeking personal gain. Key Takeaway Recognize the human element in political systems. Themes politics human nature economics Mood analytical critical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - policy analysis - labor negotiations - public administration - community organizing Key Concepts collective action self‑interest labor economics Questions to Reflect On - What motivations drive individuals within government? - How can we balance personal gain with public good? A Different Perspective Oversimplifies complex institutional structures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beings Operates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beings-operates-4991535/) [Compulsion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compulsion/) [Expenditures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expenditures/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-human-542005/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) [State](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/state/) [State Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/state-political-4991536/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) ## Related quotes > [Knowledge is an attitude, a passion, actually an illicit attitude. For the compulsion to know is like dipsomania, erotomania, and homicidal mania, in producing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/knowledge-is-an-attitude-a-passion-actually-an-illicit-attitude-for/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [There are too many people, and too few human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-zend/there-are-too-many-people-and-too-few-human-beings/) [Robert Zend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-zend/) > [“You can call yourself people but no human. Peoples always think easily but humans always think deeply. No matters how better we are, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dreytal/you-can-call-yourself-people-but-no-human-peoples-always-think-easily/) [Dreytal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dreytal/) > [Football, no one wants to ram into people. It's not human nature. You have to have a lot of incentive to ram into somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-young/football-no-one-wants-to-ram-into-people-it-s-not-human-nature-you/) [Steve Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-young/) > [“These old people. These human ruins.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/these-old-people-these-human-ruins/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Once we know that people are human and have some Homer Simpson in them, then there's a lot that can be done to manipulate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cass-sunstein/once-we-know-that-people-are-human-and-have-some-homer-simpson-in/) [Cass Sunstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cass-sunstein/) > [Most people enjoy other people. Most people are human beings first. And affiliated with political parties second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-rosenthal/most-people-enjoy-other-people-most-people-are-human-beings-first-and/) [Philip Rosenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-rosenthal/) > [Plot is people. Human emotions and desires founded on the realities of life, working at cross purposes, getting hotter and fiercer as they strike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-brackett/plot-is-people-human-emotions-and-desires-founded-on-the-realities-of/) [Leigh Brackett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-brackett/) > [People have no human rights, only the rights that they can gain on the labour market. Above all, wealth and power have to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/people-have-no-human-rights-only-the-rights-that-they-can-gain-on-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I am attracted to bad people because they are very human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takashi-miike/i-am-attracted-to-bad-people-because-they-are-very-human/) [Takashi Miike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takashi-miike/) > [Isn't it also that on some fundamental level we find it difficult to understand that other people are human beings in the same way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/isn-t-it-also-that-on-some-fundamental-level-we-find-it-difficult-to/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [People are human but mind is animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lowkey/people-are-human-but-mind-is-animal/) [Lowkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lowkey/) > [People are human. There's such a premium today on being perfect. That's just not the way people are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/people-are-human-there-s-such-a-premium-today-on-being-perfect-that-s/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [We’re not Indians and we’re not Native Americans. We’re older than both concepts. We’re the people, we’re the human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-trudell/we-re-not-indians-and-we-re-not-native-americans-we-re-older-than/) [John Trudell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-trudell/) > [What is design? It's where you stand with a foot in two worlds - the world of technology and the world of people and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitchell-kapor/what-is-design-it-s-where-you-stand-with-a-foot-in-two-worlds-the/) [Mitchell Kapor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitchell-kapor/) ## More by Frank Chodorov > [The more subsidized it is, the less free it is. What is known as 'free education' is the least free of all, for it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/the-more-subsidized-it-is-the-less-free-it-is-what-is-known-as-free/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) > [We cannot restore traditional American freedom unless we limit the government's power to tax. No tinkering with this, that, or the other law will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/we-cannot-restore-traditional-american-freedom-unless-we-limit-the/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) > [We have but to remember man's natural tendency to satisfy his desires with the minimum of effort to realize how political power will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/we-have-but-to-remember-man-s-natural-tendency-to-satisfy-his-desires/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) > [“Freedom is essentially a condition of inequality, not equality. It recognizes as a fact of nature the structural differences inherent in man — in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/freedom-is-essentially-a-condition-of-inequality-not-equality-it/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) > [Taxation is nothing but organized robbery, and there the subject should be dropped.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/taxation-is-nothing-but-organized-robbery-and-there-the-subject/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) > [Perhaps the removal of trade restrictions throughout the world would do more for the cause of universal peace than can any political union of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/perhaps-the-removal-of-trade-restrictions-throughout-the-world-would/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) > [The State acquires power... and because of its insatiable lust for power it is incapable of giving up any of it. The State never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/the-state-acquires-power-and-because-of-its-insatiable-lust-for-power/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) > [If for no other reason, personal pride should prompt every governor and state legislator to take a secessionist attitude; they were not elected to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/if-for-no-other-reason-personal-pride-should-prompt-every-governor/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) > [ \[When people\] say 'let's do something about it,' they mean 'let's get hold of the political machinery so that we can do something to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/when-people-say-let-s-do-something-about-it-they-mean-let-s-get-hold/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) > [Posterity does not pay off anything of the national debt. Each administration adds to the debt left to it, and the promise of liquidation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/posterity-does-not-pay-off-anything-of-the-national-debt-each/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) > [The pertinent question: if Americans did not want these wars should they have been compelled to fight them?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/the-pertinent-question-if-americans-did-not-want-these-wars-should/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) > [The only beneficiaries of income taxation are the politicians, for it not only gives them the means by which they can increase their emoluments,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/the-only-beneficiaries-of-income-taxation-are-the-politicians-for-it/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) > [Society thrives on trade simply because trade makes specialization possible, and specialization increases output, and increased output reduces the cost in toil for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/society-thrives-on-trade-simply-because-trade-makes-specialization/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) > [“The only beneficiaries of income taxation are the politicians, for it not only gives them the means by which they can increase their emoluments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/the-only-beneficiaries-of-income-taxation-are-the-politicians-for-it-2/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) > [Freedom is essentially a condition of inequality, not equality. It recognizes as a fact of nature the structural differences inherent in man - in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/freedom-is-essentially-a-condition-of-inequality-not-equality-it-2/) [Frank Chodorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) [Explore all 37 Frank Chodorov quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/) ## More Compulsion quotes > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [“I take my actions because of my passion not because of compulsion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/i-take-my-actions-because-of-my-passion-not-because-of-compulsion/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [The individual, by means of the discipline imposed on him by sport, not only plays and finds relaxation from the various compulsions to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/the-individual-by-means-of-the-discipline-imposed-on-him-by-sport-not/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [For many people it's Facebook, or sports on TV, whatever it is. I have my own demons that I battle. But whatever they are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/for-many-people-it-s-facebook-or-sports-on-tv-whatever-it-is-i-have/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/knowledge-which-is-acquired-under-compulsion-obtains-no-hold-on-the/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [I think it's in our nature to try to get beyond that next horizon. I think that when we as a species are scratching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-howard/i-think-it-s-in-our-nature-to-try-to-get-beyond-that-next-horizon-i/) [Ron Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-howard/) > [Those of us with this ancient compulsion to tell stories sometimes start with a single kernel of something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/those-of-us-with-this-ancient-compulsion-to-tell-stories-sometimes/) [Edward P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-p-jones/) > [You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/you-develop-an-instant-global-consciousness-a-people-orientation-an/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [I found myself compelled - like this weird, shameful compulsion - to draw cute animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/i-found-myself-compelled-like-this-weird-shameful-compulsion-to-draw/) [Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/) > [Why am I always at war with myself? Why have I told, as if upon compulsion, what I knew all along I ought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/why-am-i-always-at-war-with-myself-why-have-i-told-as-if-upon/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [It is true that the virtues which are less esteemed and practiced now--independence, self-reliance, and the willingness to bear risks, the readiness to back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/it-is-true-that-the-virtues-which-are-less-esteemed-and-practiced-now/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Not merely by rules of conduct and religious observances, nor by much learning either, nor even by attainment of concentration, nor by sleeping alone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/not-merely-by-rules-of-conduct-and-religious-observances-nor-by-much/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I started off like everyone else does, slogging but having a compulsion to put words on paper. I didn't write or read horror or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/i-started-off-like-everyone-else-does-slogging-but-having-a/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [I have with me two gods, Persuasion and Compulsion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/themistocles/i-have-with-me-two-gods-persuasion-and-compulsion/) [Themistocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/themistocles/) > [When you are dealing with a serious compulsion or addictive pattern, then by definition self-will, self-discipline, and any other machinations of the conscious mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/when-you-are-dealing-with-a-serious-compulsion-or-addictive-pattern/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) [Browse all 513 Compulsion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compulsion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The State is not, as many political scientists would make it, an inanimate thing; it consists of people, human beings, each of whom operates under an inner compulsion to get the most out of life with the least expenditure of labor.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frank Chodorov" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/the-state-is-not-as-many-political-scientists-would-make-it-an/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Compulsion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/the-state-is-not-as-many-political-scientists-would-make-it-an/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6d/frank-chodorov-17300_compulsion_the-state-is-not-as-many-political-scien_2226525.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6d/frank-chodorov-17300_compulsion_the-state-is-not-as-many-political-scien_2226525.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6d/frank-chodorov-17300_compulsion_the-state-is-not-as-many-political-scien_2226525.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The State is not, as many political scientists would make it, an inanimate thing; it consists of people…” — Frank Chodorov", "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": "Frank Chodorov", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-chodorov/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The State is not, as many...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/the-state-is-not-as-many-political-scientists-would-make-it-an/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-chodorov/the-state-is-not-as-many-political-scientists-would-make-it-an/#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 } } ] } ```