--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An administrator in a bureaucratic world…" description: "\"An administrator in a bureaucratic world is a man who can feel big by merging his non-entity in an abstraction. A real person in touch with real things..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/marshall-mcluhan-641_abstraction_an-administrator-in-a-bureaucratic-world_2137161.png" --- # An administrator in a bureaucratic world is a man who can… ![“An administrator in a bureaucratic world is a man who can feel big by merging his non-entity in an abstraction. A real person in touch with real things inspires terror in him.” quote by Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/marshall-mcluhan-641_abstraction_an-administrator-in-a-bureaucratic-world_2137161.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/marshall-mcluhan-641_abstraction_an-administrator-in-a-bureaucratic-world_2137161.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/marshall-mcluhan-641_abstraction_an-administrator-in-a-bureaucratic-world_2137161.png) > “An administrator in a bureaucratic world is a man who can feel big by merging his non-entity in an abstraction. A real person in touch with real things inspires terror in him.” [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Bureaucratic roles can dehumanize individuals, making abstract power feel personal. **In simple terms:** Systems can make people feel powerless. Key Takeaway Seek authentic connections beyond institutional abstractions. Themes bureaucracy identity power dynamics Mood analytical reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - workplace - government - non‑profit - community organizing Key Concepts sociology media theory Questions to Reflect On - How do you stay human within large systems? - What practices preserve personal authenticity? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on abstraction can ignore human agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Administrator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/administrator/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“I learned that the world of men as it exists today is a bureaucracy. This is an obvious truth, of course, though it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-learned-that-the-world-of-men-as-it-exists-today-is-a-bureaucracy/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [There is no reason why EPA's role should ebb and flow based on a particular administration or a particular administrator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-pruitt/there-is-no-reason-why-epa-s-role-should-ebb-and-flow-based-on-a/) [Scott Pruitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-pruitt/) > [One of the degrees I have is in business, and I was a healthcare administrator that ran a 365-bed skilled nursing facility for years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-draiman/one-of-the-degrees-i-have-is-in-business-and-i-was-a-healthcare/) [David Draiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-draiman/) > [At the time it seriously troubled me, but in drafting me as Marshall Plan Administrator, President Truman did as great a favor for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hoffman/at-the-time-it-seriously-troubled-me-but-in-drafting-me-as-marshall/) [Paul Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hoffman/) > [My hacking was all about becoming the best at circumventing security. So when I was a fugitive, I worked systems administrator jobs to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mitnick/my-hacking-was-all-about-becoming-the-best-at-circumventing-security/) [Kevin Mitnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-mitnick/) > [Sourav was a great cricketer, he performed on the field, would like to see him perform off the field as a cricket administrator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-thakur/sourav-was-a-great-cricketer-he-performed-on-the-field-would-like-to/) [Anurag Thakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-thakur/) > [Right after graduation, I married Samuel Fisher Babbitt, an academic administrator. I spent the next ten years in Connecticut, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C., raising…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-babbitt/right-after-graduation-i-married-samuel-fisher-babbitt-an-academic/) [Natalie Babbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-babbitt/) > [In the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, I sent a letter to EPA Administrator Stephen L Johnson urging him to waive regulations to allow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-ney/in-the-immediate-aftermath-of-the-hurricane-i-sent-a-letter-to-epa/) [Bob Ney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-ney/) > [“Everyone’s the lead in their own story, Administrator. Some roles are bigger, some smaller, but none are more important, understand?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wildbow/everyone-s-the-lead-in-their-own-story-administrator-some-roles-are/) wildbow > [What happens with smaller businesses is that they give in to the misconception that their site is secure because the system administrator deployed standard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mitnick/what-happens-with-smaller-businesses-is-that-they-give-in-to-the/) [Kevin Mitnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-mitnick/) > [The key things I learned as a hospital administrator are to be organized, communicate, and be flexible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-mazzara/the-key-things-i-learned-as-a-hospital-administrator-are-to-be/) [Glen Mazzara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-mazzara/) > [“Network Administrator or the individual responsible for”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amazon/network-administrator-or-the-individual-responsible-for/) Amazon > [I am not the governor, administrator or chief minister, who can issue instructions to bring about changes. I can only advise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirron-kher/i-am-not-the-governor-administrator-or-chief-minister-who-can-issue/) [Kirron Kher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirron-kher/) > [A great opera house isn't run by a director, but by a great administrator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-berkoff/a-great-opera-house-isn-t-run-by-a-director-but-by-a-great/) [Steven Berkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-berkoff/) > [Not having an administrator sends the wrong message to the airline industry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-cantwell/not-having-an-administrator-sends-the-wrong-message-to-the-airline/) [Maria Cantwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-cantwell/) ## More by Marshall McLuhan > [Even mud gives the illusion of depth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/even-mud-gives-the-illusion-of-depth/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Language always preserves a play or figure/ground relation between experience, and perception and its replay in expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/language-always-preserves-a-play-or-figure-ground-relation-between/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Electronic man has no physical body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/electronic-man-has-no-physical-body/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [I am curious to know what would happen if art were suddenly seen for what it is, namely, exact information of how to rearrange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/i-am-curious-to-know-what-would-happen-if-art-were-suddenly-seen-for/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [With the arrival of electric technology, man has extended, or set outside himself, a live model of the central nervous system itself. To the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/with-the-arrival-of-electric-technology-man-has-extended-or-set/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [“The constant broadcast and reception of ghostly images via radio and television, according to this notion, had weakened the sense, particularly among youth, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/the-constant-broadcast-and-reception-of-ghostly-images-via-radio-and/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Every innovation scraps its immediate predecessor and retrieves still older figures – it causes floods of antiques or nostalgic art forms and stimulates the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/every-innovation-scraps-its-immediate-predecessor-and-retrieves-still/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [The family circle has widened. The worldpool of information fathered by the electric media--movies, Telstar, flight--far surpassesany possible influence mom and dad can now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/the-family-circle-has-widened-the-worldpool-of-information-fathered/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Like primitive, we now live in a global village of our own making, a simultaneous happening. It doesn't necessarily mean harmony and peace and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/like-primitive-we-now-live-in-a-global-village-of-our-own-making-a/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Professionalism is environmental. Amateurism is anti-environmental. Professionalism merges the individual into patterns of total environment. Amateurism seeks the development of the total awareness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/professionalism-is-environmental-amateurism-is-anti-environmental/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [The visual power of the phonetic alphabet is the translate other languages into itself is part of its power to invade right hemisphere (oral)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/the-visual-power-of-the-phonetic-alphabet-is-the-translate-other/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [New media may at first appear as mere codes of transmission for older achievement and established patterns of thought. But nobody could make the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/new-media-may-at-first-appear-as-mere-codes-of-transmission-for-older/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Youth instinctively understand the present environment - the electric drama. It lives mythically and in depth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/youth-instinctively-understand-the-present-environment-the-electric/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Our motor car is our supreme form of privacy when we are away from home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/our-motor-car-is-our-supreme-form-of-privacy-when-we-are-away-from/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [The scientist rigorously defends his right to be ignorant of almost everything except his specialty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/the-scientist-rigorously-defends-his-right-to-be-ignorant-of-almost/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) [Explore all 433 Marshall McLuhan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) ## More Abstraction quotes > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. A surprising variety of things happen to have both magnitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banesh-hoffmann/but-we-must-not-underestimate-the-potency-of-the-mathematical-process/) Banesh Hoffmann > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I like residing in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-like-residing-in-abstraction/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Cancer begins and ends with people. In the midst of scientific abstraction, it is sometimes possible to forget this one basic fact. Doctors treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-goodfield/cancer-begins-and-ends-with-people-in-the-midst-of-scientific/) [June Goodfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-goodfield/) > [Yes, there was an element of abstraction and unreality in misfortune. But when an abstraction starts to kill you, you have to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/yes-there-was-an-element-of-abstraction-and-unreality-in-misfortune/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-aho/computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstraction-creating-the-right-model/) Alfred Aho > [In 'Self Comes to Mind' I pay a lot of attention to simple creatures without brains or minds, because those 'cartooned abstractions of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/in-self-comes-to-mind-i-pay-a-lot-of-attention-to-simple-creatures/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [Don't get stuck on the level of words. A word is no more than a means to an end. It's an abstraction. Not unlike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/don-t-get-stuck-on-the-level-of-words-a-word-is-no-more-than-a-means/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [ I'd say that \[Louis\] Brandeis practiced a kind of a "living originalism," to use the title of Jack Balkin's great book. He said you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-rosen/i-d-say-that-louis-brandeis-practiced-a-kind-of-a-living-originalism/) [Jeffrey Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-rosen/) > [When novels deal in abstractions, they generally go off the rails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/when-novels-deal-in-abstractions-they-generally-go-off-the-rails/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) [Browse all 562 Abstraction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "An administrator in a bureaucratic world is a man who can feel big by merging his non-entity in an abstraction. A real person in touch with real things inspires terror in him.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marshall McLuhan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/an-administrator-in-a-bureaucratic-world-is-a-man-who-can-feel-big-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abstraction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/an-administrator-in-a-bureaucratic-world-is-a-man-who-can-feel-big-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/marshall-mcluhan-641_abstraction_an-administrator-in-a-bureaucratic-world_2137161.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/marshall-mcluhan-641_abstraction_an-administrator-in-a-bureaucratic-world_2137161.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/marshall-mcluhan-641_abstraction_an-administrator-in-a-bureaucratic-world_2137161.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An administrator in a bureaucratic world is a man who can feel big by merging his non-entity in an…” — Marshall McLuhan", "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": "Marshall McLuhan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "An administrator in a bureaucratic world...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/an-administrator-in-a-bureaucratic-world-is-a-man-who-can-feel-big-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/an-administrator-in-a-bureaucratic-world-is-a-man-who-can-feel-big-by/#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 } } ] } ```