Impossibility Quote by H. Beam Piper
““It may just be," he added, "that there is something fundamentally unworkable about government itself. As long as Homo sapiens terra is a wild animal, which he has always been and always will be until he evolves into something different in a million or so years, maybe a workable system of government is a political science impossibility, just as transmutation of elements was a physical-science impossibility as long as they tried to do it by chemical means.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Little Fuzzy, H. Beam Piper, 1962
Government may be inherently unworkable because human nature is wild and ever‑changing, making stable political systems impossible.
In simple terms: Governments may never work well because people are unpredictable.
Key Takeaway
Question the assumptions behind political systems.
Themes
politics
human nature
philosophy
Mood
skeptical
thought‑provoking
Type
philosophical
critical
When to use this quote
- policy debates
- philosophy classes
- government reform meetings
- activist planning sessions
Key Concepts
social contract
political theory
evolutionary psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- Is a perfect government possible?
- How can societies adapt to human unpredictability?
A Different Perspective
Human behavior can be organized under certain structures; this view may be overly pessimistic.
![“The trouble with the theory [of limited and divided government] is that government is not a machine, but a living thing. This is where the living and breathing constitution comes from. It is modified by its environment, necessitated by its tasks, shaped to its functions by the sheer pressure of…” quote by Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e9c/woodrow-wilson-534_breathing_the-trouble-with-the-theory-of-limited-a_2161752.jpg)
![“[R]evolutions of government cannot be effected by the mere force of argument and reasoning;” quote by David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/2ed/david-hume-538_politics_r-evolutions-of-government-cannot-be-eff_595090.jpg)
![“When the fountains of government [borrowing] abundance began to dry up, when through lack of funds and the impossibility of negotiating fresh loans the state was forced to check the extension of bureaucracy and to put a stop to public works, then and then only did the Italians realize what it…” quote by John T. Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/908/john-t-flynn-18493_abundance_when-the-fountains-of-government-borrowi_2663.jpg)
