--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The object of the state is always the…" description: "\"The object of the state is always the same: to limit the individual, to tame him, to subordinate him, to subjugate him.\" — Max Stirner" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39d/max-stirner-6556_individual_the-object-of-the-state-is-always-the-sa_3139250.jpg" --- # The object of the state is always the same: to limit the… ![“The object of the state is always the same: to limit the individual, to tame him, to subordinate him, to subjugate him.” quote by Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39d/max-stirner-6556_individual_the-object-of-the-state-is-always-the-sa_3139250.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39d/max-stirner-6556_individual_the-object-of-the-state-is-always-the-sa_3139250.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39d/max-stirner-6556_individual_the-object-of-the-state-is-always-the-sa_3139250.jpg) > “The object of the state is always the same: to limit the individual, to tame him, to subordinate him, to subjugate him.” [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The state exists to restrict individual freedom, imposing control and subjugation. **In simple terms:** State limits personal freedom. Key Takeaway Resist state-imposed constraints. Themes freedom authority individualism control politics Mood critical thought‑provoking Type philosophical political When to use this quote - political activism - legal reforms - personal decision‑making Key Concepts anarchism state power liberty Questions to Reflect On - Is total freedom realistic? - When is collective authority necessary? A Different Perspective State may provide order and security. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Individual Tame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual-tame-5586233/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Limit Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limit-individual-5586232/) [Limits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limits/) [Objects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objects/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Subordinate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subordinate/) [Subordinate Subjugate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subordinate-subjugate-5586231/) [Subordinates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subordinates/) [Tame Subordinate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tame-subordinate-5586230/) ## Related quotes > [ \[Did you\] ever know a sincere emotion to express itself in a subordinate clause? ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/did-you-ever-know-a-sincere-emotion-to-express-itself-in-a/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [If you're in a subordinate position of some sort and pretty much all of us are at some point in our lives, your general…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/if-you-re-in-a-subordinate-position-of-some-sort-and-pretty-much-all/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [Any group of people that has been subordinate absorbs the idea of our own subordination, and that it is natural, and comes to think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/any-group-of-people-that-has-been-subordinate-absorbs-the-idea-of-our/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [The most common disguise of Envy is in praise of what is subordinate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-allston/the-most-common-disguise-of-envy-is-in-praise-of-what-is-subordinate/) [Washington Allston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-allston/) > [I believe that there is no such thing as a subordinate. If the air-conditioning ceases to work in our building, then the repair technician…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-kay-ash/i-believe-that-there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-subordinate-if-the-air/) [Mary Kay Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-kay-ash/) > [When we're dealing with historic buildings, we don't replicate, but we try to be subordinate and be deferential to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-clewes/when-we-re-dealing-with-historic-buildings-we-don-t-replicate-but-we/) [Peter Clewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-clewes/) > [Rights are subordinate to responsibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/len-smith/rights-are-subordinate-to-responsibilities/) [Len Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/len-smith/) > [The subordinate's job is not to reform or reeducate the boss, not to make him conform to what the business schools or the management…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/the-subordinate-s-job-is-not-to-reform-or-reeducate-the-boss-not-to/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [All important persons have about them someone in a subordinate position who has their ear. These dependents are very susceptible to slights, and, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/all-important-persons-have-about-them-someone-in-a-subordinate/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [The State has always one purpose: to limit, control, subordinate the individual and subject him to the general purpose Through its censorship, its supervision,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/the-state-has-always-one-purpose-to-limit-control-subordinate-the/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [“Your subordinate is ready to take your position the day he stops blaming others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haresh-sippy/your-subordinate-is-ready-to-take-your-position-the-day-he-stops/) [Haresh Sippy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haresh-sippy/) > [There is no occasion for women to consider themselves subordinate or inferior to man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/there-is-no-occasion-for-women-to-consider-themselves-subordinate-or/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [No, General. I'm not your subordinate. And what I'm coming dangerously close to is violence. -General Wedge Antilles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-allston/no-general-i-m-not-your-subordinate-and-what-i-m-coming-dangerously/) [Aaron Allston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-allston/) > [“One cannot subordinate himself simultaneously to God and to his own idolized self. Thus the Sages say: "Whoever becomes angry, \[even if he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aharon-feldman/one-cannot-subordinate-himself-simultaneously-to-god-and-to-his-own/) [Aharon Feldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aharon-feldman/) > [The circulatory system of man and the vertebrate animals can be considered as made up of a small number of organs or subordinate systems,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-krogh/the-circulatory-system-of-man-and-the-vertebrate-animals-can-be/) [August Krogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-krogh/) ## More by Max Stirner > [Whoever will be free must make himself free. Freedom is no fairy gift to fall into a man's lap. What is freedom? To have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/whoever-will-be-free-must-make-himself-free-freedom-is-no-fairy-gift/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [I am all and nothing; I am not a mere thought, but at the same time I am full of thoughts, a thought-world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/i-am-all-and-nothing-i-am-not-a-mere-thought-but-at-the-same-time-i/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [Only the free and personal man is a good citizen (realist), and even with the lack of particular (scholarly, artistic, etc)culture, a tasteful judge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/only-the-free-and-personal-man-is-a-good-citizen-realist-and-even/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [Liberty of the people is not my liberty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/liberty-of-the-people-is-not-my-liberty/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [People is the name of the body, State of the spirit, of that ruling person that has hitherto suppressed me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/people-is-the-name-of-the-body-state-of-the-spirit-of-that-ruling/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [Many a man renounces morals, but with great difficulty the conception, 'morality.' Morality is the 'idea' of morals, their intellectual power, their power over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/many-a-man-renounces-morals-but-with-great-difficulty-the-conception/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [Freedom cannot be granted. It must be taken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/freedom-cannot-be-granted-it-must-be-taken/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [For what reason then do the realists show themselves so unfriendly toward philosophy? Because they misunderstand their own calling and with all their might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/for-what-reason-then-do-the-realists-show-themselves-so-unfriendly/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [Every State is a despotism, be the despot one or many.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/every-state-is-a-despotism-be-the-despot-one-or-many/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [Before what is sacred, people lose all sense of power and all confidence; they occupy a powerless and humble attitude toward it. And yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/before-what-is-sacred-people-lose-all-sense-of-power-and-all/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [Christianity has aimed to deliver us from a life determined by nature, from the appetites as actuating us, and so has meant that man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/christianity-has-aimed-to-deliver-us-from-a-life-determined-by-nature/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [The freedom of man is, in political liberalism, freedom from persons, from personal dominion, from the master; the securing of each individual person against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/the-freedom-of-man-is-in-political-liberalism-freedom-from-persons/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [Is not all the stupid chatter of most of our newspapers the babble of fools who suffer from the fixed idea of morality, legality,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/is-not-all-the-stupid-chatter-of-most-of-our-newspapers-the-babble-of/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [Yes, yes, children must early be made to practise piety, godliness, and propriety; a person of good breeding is one into whom 'good maxims'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/yes-yes-children-must-early-be-made-to-practise-piety-godliness-and/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) > [We do not aspire to communal life but to a life apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/we-do-not-aspire-to-communal-life-but-to-a-life-apart/) [Max Stirner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) [Explore all 86 Max Stirner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/) ## More Individual quotes > [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/) > [“Every select man strives instinctively for a citadel and a privacy, where he is FREE from the crowd, the many, the majority-- where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-select-man-strives-instinctively-for-a-citadel-and-a-privacy/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The strains and stresses suffered by the individual in society are grounded in the normal functioning of that society (and of the individual!) rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/the-strains-and-stresses-suffered-by-the-individual-in-society-are/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [Politics is about power. It is about the power of the state. It is about the power of the state as applied to individuals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-rudd/politics-is-about-power-it-is-about-the-power-of-the-state-it-is/) [Kevin Rudd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-rudd/) > [Why do we love certain homes, and why do they seem to love us? It is the warmth of our individual hearts reflected in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-h-robsjohn-gibbings/why-do-we-love-certain-homes-and-why-do-they-seem-to-love-us-it-is/) [T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-h-robsjohn-gibbings/) > [When the first Superman movie came out I was frequently asked "What is a hero?" ...My answer was that a hero is someone who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/when-the-first-superman-movie-came-out-i-was-frequently-asked-what-is/) [Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/) > [In comparative terms, there's no poverty in America by a long shot. Heritage Foundation political scientist Robert Rector has worked up figures showing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/in-comparative-terms-there-s-no-poverty-in-america-by-a-long-shot/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [Nations, like individuals, interest us in their growth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/nations-like-individuals-interest-us-in-their-growth/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [ \[Sport officials\] blocked their support of us. But those individuals \[ Muhammad Ali, the Jim Browns, the Bill Russells, Kareem Abdul Jabbar \] were… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carlos/sport-officials-blocked-their-support-of-us-but-those-individuals/) [John Carlos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carlos/) > [Popular culture as a whole is popular, but in today's fragmented market it's a jostle of competing unpopular popular cultures. As the critic Stanley…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/popular-culture-as-a-whole-is-popular-but-in-today-s-fragmented/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [The State must act as the guardian of a millennial future in the face of which the wishes and the selfishness of the individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-state-must-act-as-the-guardian-of-a-millennial-future-in-the-face/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [If it comes to a question of law, the charges they brought against me - the Espionage Act - is called the quintessential political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/if-it-comes-to-a-question-of-law-the-charges-they-brought-against-me/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [The individual, by means of the discipline imposed on him by sport, not only plays and finds relaxation from the various compulsions to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/the-individual-by-means-of-the-discipline-imposed-on-him-by-sport-not/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [Youre always going to have some individual incidents that arent going to show off the Ryder Cup in the true form and spirit that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-kite/youre-always-going-to-have-some-individual-incidents-that-arent-going/) [Tom Kite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-kite/) > [ The self is defined psychologically as the psychic totality of the individual. Anything that a \[person\] postulates as being a greater totality than \[oneself\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/the-self-is-defined-psychologically-as-the-psychic-totality-of-the/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) [Browse all 10,654 Individual quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The object of the state is always the same: to limit the individual, to tame him, to subordinate him, to subjugate him.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Max Stirner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/the-object-of-the-state-is-always-the-same-to-limit-the-individual-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Individual" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/the-object-of-the-state-is-always-the-same-to-limit-the-individual-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39d/max-stirner-6556_individual_the-object-of-the-state-is-always-the-sa_3139250.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39d/max-stirner-6556_individual_the-object-of-the-state-is-always-the-sa_3139250.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39d/max-stirner-6556_individual_the-object-of-the-state-is-always-the-sa_3139250.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The object of the state is always the same: to limit the individual, to tame him, to subordinate him, to…” — Max Stirner", "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": "Max Stirner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-stirner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The object of the state is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/the-object-of-the-state-is-always-the-same-to-limit-the-individual-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-stirner/the-object-of-the-state-is-always-the-same-to-limit-the-individual-to/#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 } } ] } ```