--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We cling to hierarchies because our place…" description: "\"We cling to hierarchies because our place in a hierarchy is, rightly or wrongly, a major indicator of our social worth.\" — Harold Leavitt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a9/harold-leavitt-241532_hierarchy_we-cling-to-hierarchies-because-our-plac_2235780.png" --- # We cling to hierarchies because our place in a hierarchy… ![“We cling to hierarchies because our place in a hierarchy is, rightly or wrongly, a major indicator of our social worth.” quote by Harold Leavitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a9/harold-leavitt-241532_hierarchy_we-cling-to-hierarchies-because-our-plac_2235780.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a9/harold-leavitt-241532_hierarchy_we-cling-to-hierarchies-because-our-plac_2235780.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a9/harold-leavitt-241532_hierarchy_we-cling-to-hierarchies-because-our-plac_2235780.png) > “We cling to hierarchies because our place in a hierarchy is, rightly or wrongly, a major indicator of our social worth.” [Harold Leavitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-leavitt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People cling to hierarchies for validation, using status as a measure of worth. **In simple terms:** Hierarchies give false worth. Key Takeaway Find self-worth beyond status. Themes hierarchy social status validation identity self-worth Mood critical analytical Type Hierarchy:1 Indicators:0 Majors:0 Management:0 Social:1 Hierarchies:1 Hierarchy Rightly:0 Cling Hierarchies:0 Hierarchies Place:0 When to use this quote - workplace - social media - community leadership Key Concepts sociology psychology social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - Why do we seek status? - How to value self beyond hierarchy? A Different Perspective Hierarchies can be oppressive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cling Hierarchies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cling-hierarchies-5047410/) [Hierarchies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hierarchies-275188/) [Hierarchies Place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hierarchies-place-5047411/) [Hierarchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hierarchy/) [Hierarchy Rightly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hierarchy-rightly-5047409/) [Indicators](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indicators/) [Majors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/majors/) [Management](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/management/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) ## Related quotes > [Ordered by subject, by importance, ordered according to whether the book was penned by God or by one of God's creatures, ordered alphabetically or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/ordered-by-subject-by-importance-ordered-according-to-whether-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [With globalization and with a lot of power evaporating from the nation-states, the late-19th century established hierarchies of importance, or 'pecking orders' of cultures,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/with-globalization-and-with-a-lot-of-power-evaporating-from-the/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Most hierarchies are nowadays so cumbered with rules and traditions, and so bound in by public laws, that even high employees do not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-j-peter/most-hierarchies-are-nowadays-so-cumbered-with-rules-and-traditions/) [Laurence J. Peter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-j-peter/) > [The military was all about hierarchies, who urinated highest on the hydrant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-cronin/the-military-was-all-about-hierarchies-who-urinated-highest-on-the/) [Justin Cronin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-cronin/) > [Organizations must shift away from repetitive-function hierarchies with rules and enforcement and walls. Instead, we must migrate rapidly to becoming a global 'team of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-drayton/organizations-must-shift-away-from-repetitive-function-hierarchies/) [Bill Drayton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-drayton/) > [A natural hierarchy is simply an order of increasing wholeness, such as: particles to atoms to cells to organisms, or letters to words to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/a-natural-hierarchy-is-simply-an-order-of-increasing-wholeness-such/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [Ideals jump across the hierarchies of the printed word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-potter/ideals-jump-across-the-hierarchies-of-the-printed-word/) [Dennis Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-potter/) > [In the old systems, hierarchies emanate power from above to below through forms of line management and are ideologically supported by cosmologies and theologies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-wilson/in-the-old-systems-hierarchies-emanate-power-from-above-to-below/) [Catherine Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-wilson/) > [In most hierarchies, supercompetence is more objectionable than incompetence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-j-peter/in-most-hierarchies-supercompetence-is-more-objectionable-than/) [Laurence J. Peter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-j-peter/) > [There are no hierarchies in nature other than those imposed by hierarchical modes of human thought, but rather differences merely in function between and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/there-are-no-hierarchies-in-nature-other-than-those-imposed-by/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [Hierarchies are celestial. In hell all are equal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/hierarchies-are-celestial-in-hell-all-are-equal/) [Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [There are no hierarchies, no infinite, no such many as mass, there are only/ eyes in all heads,/ to be looked out of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-olson/there-are-no-hierarchies-no-infinite-no-such-many-as-mass-there-are/) [Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-olson/) > [Philosophy, art, politics, religion and bohemia have never sought to do away entirely with the status hierarchy; they have attemptee, rather, to institute new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/philosophy-art-politics-religion-and-bohemia-have-never-sought-to-do/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Millennials really don't perceive hierarchies. They either don't perceive them or don't like them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-pinsky/millennials-really-don-t-perceive-hierarchies-they-either-don-t/) [Drew Pinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-pinsky/) > [We all have hierarchies at work - even on set, the runner would never walk up to the director and ask for a cup…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-carmichael/we-all-have-hierarchies-at-work-even-on-set-the-runner-would-never/) [Laura Carmichael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-carmichael/) ## More Hierarchy quotes > [We became Homo sapiens not that long ago, from the scientific perspective, and we've retained a lot of our beast nature. We've done all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangechi-mutu/we-became-homo-sapiens-not-that-long-ago-from-the-scientific/) [Wangechi Mutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangechi-mutu/) > [Love is the supreme form of communication. 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