--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Officialdom is hostile to inquiring…" description: "\"Officialdom is hostile to inquiring outsiders.\" — Martha Gellhorn" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be5/martha-gellhorn-8061_bureaucracy_officialdom-is-hostile-to-inquiring-outs_1381217.jpg" --- # Officialdom is hostile to inquiring outsiders. ![“Officialdom is hostile to inquiring outsiders.” quote by Martha Gellhorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be5/martha-gellhorn-8061_bureaucracy_officialdom-is-hostile-to-inquiring-outs_1381217.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be5/martha-gellhorn-8061_bureaucracy_officialdom-is-hostile-to-inquiring-outs_1381217.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be5/martha-gellhorn-8061_bureaucracy_officialdom-is-hostile-to-inquiring-outs_1381217.jpg) > “Officialdom is hostile to inquiring outsiders.” [Martha Gellhorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-gellhorn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Institutions resist outsiders who question them, protecting their own power. **In simple terms:** Institutions resist questioning outsiders. Key Takeaway Challenge authority with inquiry. Themes authority inquiry institutional resistance courage Mood critical defiant Type political journalistic When to use this quote - activism - academic research - policy reform - whistleblowing Key Concepts power dynamics critical thinking journalism Questions to Reflect On - Why do institutions fear external questions? - How can outsiders effectively provoke constructive change? A Different Perspective Change may be slow and met with retaliation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bureaucracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucracy/) [Hostile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hostile/) [Hostile Inquiring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hostile-inquiring-4786211/) [Inquiring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inquiring/) [Inquiring Outsiders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inquiring-outsiders-4786212/) [Officialdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/officialdom-1456375/) [Officialdom Hostile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/officialdom-hostile-4786210/) [Outsiders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outsiders/) ## Related quotes > [The protocol things, the officialdom, are part of my work. But it doesn't take more than 20 percent of my time. The majority of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/queen-rania-of-jordan/the-protocol-things-the-officialdom-are-part-of-my-work-but-it-doesn/) [Queen Rania of Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/queen-rania-of-jordan/) > [The atmosphere of officialdom would kill anything that breathes the air of human endeavour, would extinguish hope and fear alike in the supremacy of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-atmosphere-of-officialdom-would-kill-anything-that-breathes-the/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [We can learn to trust ourselves by inquiring within. To practice doing this, sit quietly, close your eyes, and for a minute focus your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-thoele/we-can-learn-to-trust-ourselves-by-inquiring-within-to-practice-doing/) [Sue Thoele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-thoele/) > [Wolves and women are relational by nature, inquiring, possessed of great endurance and strength. They are deeply intuitive, intensely concerned with their young, their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/wolves-and-women-are-relational-by-nature-inquiring-possessed-of/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [There are very few persons who would think of inquiring into the private life of the newspaper dealer at the corner, or the druggist,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-dressler/there-are-very-few-persons-who-would-think-of-inquiring-into-the/) [Marie Dressler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-dressler/) > [The decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the cause of the destruction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-decline-of-rome-was-the-natural-and-inevitable-effect-of/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Any sensible ruler would have killed off Leonard, and Lord Vetinari was extremely sensible and often wondered why he had not done so. He'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/any-sensible-ruler-would-have-killed-off-leonard-and-lord-vetinari/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [The mark of a truly civilized man is confidence in the strength and security derived from the inquiring mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/the-mark-of-a-truly-civilized-man-is-confidence-in-the-strength-and/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [thought I was doing two things. 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Inquiring about a difference is like asking to borrow string when you've got a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hsu-yun/saints-and-ordinary-folks-are-the-same-from-the-start-inquiring-about/) [Hsu Yun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hsu-yun/) > [The new and most powerful union of all will be a union of one one man, one woman, one worker with special skills, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-spence/the-new-and-most-powerful-union-of-all-will-be-a-union-of-one-one-man/) [Gerry Spence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-spence/) > [It will sometimes strike a scientific man that the philosophers have been less intent on finding out what the facts are, than on inquiring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/it-will-sometimes-strike-a-scientific-man-that-the-philosophers-have/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) ## More by Martha Gellhorn > [Nothing is better for self-esteem than survival.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-gellhorn/nothing-is-better-for-self-esteem-than-survival/) [Martha Gellhorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-gellhorn/) > [All politicians are bores and liars and fakes. 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