--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Politicians need human misery…" description: "\"Politicians need human misery. ... Government's a disease masquerading as its own cure.\" — L. Neil Smith" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28a/l-neil-smith-3636_cures_politicians-need-human-misery-government_2095899.png" --- # Politicians need human misery. ... Government's a disease… ![“Politicians need human misery. ... Government's a disease masquerading as its own cure.” quote by L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28a/l-neil-smith-3636_cures_politicians-need-human-misery-government_2095899.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28a/l-neil-smith-3636_cures_politicians-need-human-misery-government_2095899.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28a/l-neil-smith-3636_cures_politicians-need-human-misery-government_2095899.png) > “Politicians need human misery. ... Government's a disease masquerading as its own cure.” [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Politicians exploit suffering, treating governance as a harmful illusion that pretends to heal what it creates. **In simple terms:** Politicians use misery, government harms. Key Takeaway Question authority, seek alternatives. Themes politics power corruption Mood skeptical critical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - activism - policy reform - community building - self‑governance Key Concepts nihilism anarchism Questions to Reflect On - What alternatives could replace harmful governance? - How can citizens hold leaders accountable? A Different Perspective Governments can provide essential services despite flaws. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cures/) [Disease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disease/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Government Disease](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government-disease-3815876/) [Human Misery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-misery/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Libertarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libertarian/) [Misery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery/) [Misery Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery-government-4164877/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Politician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politician/) [Politicians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politicians/) [Politicians Need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politicians-need-738472/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) ## Related quotes > [And as in men's bodies, so in government, that disease is most serious which proceeds from the head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/and-as-in-men-s-bodies-so-in-government-that-disease-is-most-serious/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) > [I am very angry, and you don't need angry politicians. You need politicians with great balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamal-haasan/i-am-very-angry-and-you-don-t-need-angry-politicians-you-need/) [Kamal Haasan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamal-haasan/) > [The rules in this new 'post-partisan' era are pretty simple: If the Democratic Party wants it, it's 'stimulus.' If the Republican Party opposes it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/the-rules-in-this-new-post-partisan-era-are-pretty-simple-if-the/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [People hate politicians, it's really in vogue right now to hate politicians, but we need someone to lead us into the new world economy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-c-pelosi/people-hate-politicians-it-s-really-in-vogue-right-now-to-hate/) [Alexandra C. Pelosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-c-pelosi/) > [“There will always be a boogie man. Politicians need one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josie-brown/there-will-always-be-a-boogie-man-politicians-need-one/) [Josie Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josie-brown/) > [Most of the founders of this country had day jobs for years. They were not career politicians. ... We need leaders with experience in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/most-of-the-founders-of-this-country-had-day-jobs-for-years-they-were/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“Businessmen have a different set of delusions from politicians, and need, therefore, different handling. They are, however, much milder than politicians, at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/businessmen-have-a-different-set-of-delusions-from-politicians-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Politicians detest self-sufficient citizens. Politicians need to be needed. When we get socialized medicine, you will be completely dependent upon politicians for your medical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-boortz/politicians-detest-self-sufficient-citizens-politicians-need-to-be/) [Neal Boortz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-boortz/) > [Politicians need to realise that words have consequences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/layla-moran/politicians-need-to-realise-that-words-have-consequences/) [Layla Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/layla-moran/) > [Politicians need to rethink their reflexive invocations of the Second Amendment and the idea that the gun lobby is too powerful to challenge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ignatius/politicians-need-to-rethink-their-reflexive-invocations-of-the-second/) [David Ignatius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ignatius/) > [I think we need politicians; we need people who want to serve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/i-think-we-need-politicians-we-need-people-who-want-to-serve/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) > [“Politicians need citizens who will permit them to behave reasonably.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-edgar-stafford/politicians-need-citizens-who-will-permit-them-to-behave-reasonably/) [William Edgar Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-edgar-stafford/) > [Politicians need a film appreciation course.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-kashyap/politicians-need-a-film-appreciation-course/) [Anurag Kashyap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-kashyap/) > [Politicians need money at election time and money to get the vote. Well, more than half of money in election comes from corporate interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-navarro/politicians-need-money-at-election-time-and-money-to-get-the-vote/) [Peter Navarro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-navarro/) > [Politicians need a better understanding of global ecology. We need to be freed from our species-specific arrogance. No evidence exists that we are 'chosen',…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-margulis/politicians-need-a-better-understanding-of-global-ecology-we-need-to/) [Lynn Margulis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-margulis/) ## More by L. Neil Smith > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Great men don't 'move to the center' - great men move the center!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/great-men-don-t-move-to-the-center-great-men-move-the-center/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [I suggest due process, speedy trials, and public hangings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/i-suggest-due-process-speedy-trials-and-public-hangings/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Guns cause crime like flies cause garbage!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/guns-cause-crime-like-flies-cause-garbage/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [I have a recurring daymare that when the Glorious People's SWAT Teams smash their way in, most of us - by which I mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/i-have-a-recurring-daymare-that-when-the-glorious-people-s-swat-teams/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [I'll remind you all, however, that for government, existence is a privilege, not a right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/i-ll-remind-you-all-however-that-for-government-existence-is-a/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [I propose a Constitutional Amendment providing that, if any public official, elected or appointed, at any level of government, is caught lying to any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/i-propose-a-constitutional-amendment-providing-that-if-any-public/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Victim disarmament types are sick, sick people, who'd rather see a woman raped in an alley and strangled with her own pantyhose than see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/victim-disarmament-types-are-sick-sick-people-who-d-rather-see-a/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Money, first and foremost, is a medium of communication, conveying the information we call 'price'. Government control of the money supply is censorship, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/money-first-and-foremost-is-a-medium-of-communication-conveying-the/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/a-libertarian-is-a-person-who-believes-that-no-one-has-the-right/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [“...occasionally I like carrying raw steel to remind myself of an important lesson. The blade's an extension of the hand, the agent--no pun intended--of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/occasionally-i-like-carrying-raw-steel-to-remind-myself-of-an/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Thanks to guys like Boss Tweed, famous for saying, 'I don't give a damn who does the voting, as long as I do the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/thanks-to-guys-like-boss-tweed-famous-for-saying-i-don-t-give-a-damn/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Taxes are a barbaric remnant of ancient times in which early farmers, tied to the land, no longer able to roam freely, unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/taxes-are-a-barbaric-remnant-of-ancient-times-in-which-early-farmers/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [If conservatives really believed in individual liberty, as they endlessly claim and if they used both halves of their brains then they'd be libertarians.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/if-conservatives-really-believed-in-individual-liberty-as-they/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [You cannot force me to agree with you. You can force me to act as though I agree with you but then you'll have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/you-cannot-force-me-to-agree-with-you-you-can-force-me-to-act-as/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) [Explore all 125 L. Neil Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) ## More Cures quotes > [The Only cure for nihilism is for liberal democratic societies - their electorates, their judiciary, and their political leadership- to insist that force is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/the-only-cure-for-nihilism-is-for-liberal-democratic-societies-their/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [One of the most powerful concepts, one which is a sure cure for lack of confidence, is the thought that God is with you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/one-of-the-most-powerful-concepts-one-which-is-a-sure-cure-for-lack/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Jesus never met a disease he could not cure, a birth defect he could not reverse, a demon he could not exorcise. But he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-yancey/jesus-never-met-a-disease-he-could-not-cure-a-birth-defect-he-could/) [Philip Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-yancey/) > [It is some alleviation to ills we cannot cure to speak of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-some-alleviation-to-ills-we-cannot-cure-to-speak-of-them/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Being single isnt the cause of loneliness, and marriage is not necessarily the cure. There are many lonely married people as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renee-jones/being-single-isnt-the-cause-of-loneliness-and-marriage-is-not/) [Renee Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renee-jones/) > [We know nothing of the principle of health, the positive of which pathology is the negative, except from observation and experience. And nothing but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-nightingale/we-know-nothing-of-the-principle-of-health-the-positive-of-which/) [Florence Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-nightingale/) > [One day I was running around playing with my son Connor when afterwards I was sweating, tired and out of breath. I was embarrassed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-carey/one-day-i-was-running-around-playing-with-my-son-connor-when/) [Drew Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-carey/) > [Arise Evans had a fungous nose, and said, it was revealed to him, that the King's hand would cure him, and at the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-aubrey/arise-evans-had-a-fungous-nose-and-said-it-was-revealed-to-him-that/) [John Aubrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-aubrey/) > [In the history of man it has been very generally the case that when evils have grown insufferable they have touched the point of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-hubbel-chapin/in-the-history-of-man-it-has-been-very-generally-the-case-that-when/) [Edwin Hubbel Chapin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-hubbel-chapin/) > [“Suckers think that you cure greed with money, addiction with substances, expert problems with experts, banking with bankers, economics with economists, and debt crises…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/suckers-think-that-you-cure-greed-with-money-addiction-with/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [A lean purse is easier to cure than to endure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-s-clason/a-lean-purse-is-easier-to-cure-than-to-endure/) [George S. Clason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-s-clason/) > [Physicians, when the cause of disease is discovered, consider that the cure is discovered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/physicians-when-the-cause-of-disease-is-discovered-consider-that-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [I think self-deprecation is such a disease, and I want to cure everybody of it and so that's my contribution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/i-think-self-deprecation-is-such-a-disease-and-i-want-to-cure/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [Care is no cure, but rather corrosive, For things that are not to be remedied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/care-is-no-cure-but-rather-corrosive-for-things-that-are-not-to-be/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) [Browse all 1,511 Cures quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cures/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Politicians need human misery. ... Government's a disease masquerading as its own cure.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "L. Neil Smith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/politicians-need-human-misery-government-s-a-disease-masquerading-as/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cures" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/politicians-need-human-misery-government-s-a-disease-masquerading-as/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28a/l-neil-smith-3636_cures_politicians-need-human-misery-government_2095899.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28a/l-neil-smith-3636_cures_politicians-need-human-misery-government_2095899.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28a/l-neil-smith-3636_cures_politicians-need-human-misery-government_2095899.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Politicians need human misery. ... Government's a disease masquerading as its own cure.” — L. Neil Smith", "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": "L. Neil Smith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Politicians need human misery. ... Government's...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/politicians-need-human-misery-government-s-a-disease-masquerading-as/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/politicians-need-human-misery-government-s-a-disease-masquerading-as/#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 } } ] } ```