--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The state itself becomes more and more…" description: "\"The state itself becomes more and more identified with the interests of those who run things than with the interests of the people in general.\" — Fried..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/646/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_interest_the-state-itself-becomes-more-and-more-i_221115.jpg" --- # The state itself becomes more and more identified with the… ![“The state itself becomes more and more identified with the interests of those who run things than with the interests of the people in general.” quote by Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/646/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_interest_the-state-itself-becomes-more-and-more-i_221115.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/646/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_interest_the-state-itself-becomes-more-and-more-i_221115.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/646/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_interest_the-state-itself-becomes-more-and-more-i_221115.jpg) > “The state itself becomes more and more identified with the interests of those who run things than with the interests of the people in general.” [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Governments increasingly serve elite interests, diverging from the public good. **In simple terms:** State favors elites over people. Key Takeaway Demand accountability. Themes power elitism democracy public interest Mood critical analytical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - voting - policy advocacy - community organizing Key Concepts political theory government accountability social equity Questions to Reflect On - How can citizens reclaim influence? - What mechanisms ensure government serves all? A Different Perspective Complex power structures resist change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) ## Related quotes > [I love the other side of life, I like to do what interests me. People talk about bucket lists - I hate that. 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I think it interests people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-lyne/it-s-the-sort-of-subject-that-always-interests-me-jealousy-and-the/) [Adrian Lyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-lyne/) > [When occasions present themselves, in which the interests of the people are at variance with their inclinations, it is the duty of the persons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/when-occasions-present-themselves-in-which-the-interests-of-the/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [I know that you need to be entertaining at the beginning to get people interested, and what interests people is knockouts and excitement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-yarde/i-know-that-you-need-to-be-entertaining-at-the-beginning-to-get/) [Anthony Yarde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-yarde/) > [Self-knowledge leads to wonder, and wonder to curiosity and investigation, so that nothing interests people more than people, even if only one's own person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/self-knowledge-leads-to-wonder-and-wonder-to-curiosity-and/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [“If you are once sure what you do want, you find that everything else goes down before it like grass under a roller—(all other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasha-alexander/if-you-are-once-sure-what-you-do-want-you-find-that-everything-else/) [Tasha Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tasha-alexander/) > [I didn't expect to love being online as much as I do. I've met some wonderful people and discovered that however arcane some of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/i-didn-t-expect-to-love-being-online-as-much-as-i-do-i-ve-met-some/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [Politicians are a set of men who have interests aside from the interests of the people and who, to say the most of them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/politicians-are-a-set-of-men-who-have-interests-aside-from-the/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The fact of the matter is, people care about their own human interests: the people they love, their families, and their communities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-steyer/the-fact-of-the-matter-is-people-care-about-their-own-human-interests/) [Tom Steyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-steyer/) > [You quickly find, when you are a hand-reader as I am, that nothing interests people so much as themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/you-quickly-find-when-you-are-a-hand-reader-as-i-am-that-nothing/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [We are a regional party, and our interests are for the people of Odisha.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naveen-patnaik/we-are-a-regional-party-and-our-interests-are-for-the-people-of-odisha/) [Naveen Patnaik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naveen-patnaik/) ## More by Friedrich August von Hayek > [The system of private property is the most important guaranty of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-system-of-private-property-is-the-most-important-guaranty-of/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [By the time any view becomes a majority view, it is no longer the best view: somebody will already have advanced beyond the point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/by-the-time-any-view-becomes-a-majority-view-it-is-no-longer-the-best/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Freedom can be preserved only if it is treated as a supreme principle which must not be sacrificed for particular advantages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/freedom-can-be-preserved-only-if-it-is-treated-as-a-supreme-principle/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Should our moral beliefs really prove to be dependent on factual assumptions shown to be incorrect, it would be hardly moral to defend them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/should-our-moral-beliefs-really-prove-to-be-dependent-on-factual/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [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/) > [Unlike the rationalism of the French Revolution, true liberalism has no quarrel with religion, and I can only deplore the militant and essentially illiberal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/unlike-the-rationalism-of-the-french-revolution-true-liberalism-has/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [We must make the building of a free society once more an intellectual adventure, a deed of courage… Unless we can make the philosophic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/we-must-make-the-building-of-a-free-society-once-more-an-intellectual/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [The central problem of management is how spontaneous interaction of people within a firm, each possessing only bits of knowledge, can bring about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-central-problem-of-management-is-how-spontaneous-interaction-of/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [The discussions of every age are filled with the issues on which its leading schools of thought differ. But the general intellectual atmosphere of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-discussions-of-every-age-are-filled-with-the-issues-on-which-its/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [The Nobel Prize confers on an individual an authority which in economics no man ought to possess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-nobel-prize-confers-on-an-individual-an-authority-which-in/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [ \[Socialistic\] economic planning, regulation, and intervention pave the way to totalitarianism by building a power structure that will inevitably be seized by the most… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/socialistic-economic-planning-regulation-and-intervention-pave-the/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [It is rather a problem of how to secure the best use of resources known to any of the members of society, for ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/it-is-rather-a-problem-of-how-to-secure-the-best-use-of-resources/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [We must face the fact that the preservation of individual freedom is incompatible with a full satisfaction of our views of distributive justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/we-must-face-the-fact-that-the-preservation-of-individual-freedom-is/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Human envy is certainly not one of the sources of discontent that a free society can eliminate. It is probably one of the essential…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/human-envy-is-certainly-not-one-of-the-sources-of-discontent-that-a/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Socialism constitutes a threat to the present and future welfare of the human race, in the sense that neither socialism nor any other known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/socialism-constitutes-a-threat-to-the-present-and-future-welfare-of/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) [Explore all 244 Friedrich August von Hayek quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) ## More Interest quotes > [For us who are now in power, we need to be challenged to serve the people and ignore our own egos and personal interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangari-maathai/for-us-who-are-now-in-power-we-need-to-be-challenged-to-serve-the/) [Wangari Maathai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangari-maathai/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Right now we're concerned about budget. 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