Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Revolutionary change often results in new bureaucratic structures rather than freedom.
- In plain terms
- After revolutions, new bureaucracies replace the old ones.
- What can you take from it?
- Expect bureaucracy to persist even after radical change.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do revolutions fail to change systems?
- Can true freedom avoid bureaucracy?
Another view
Some revolutions do lead to genuine liberation without new bureaucracy.
More from Franz Kafka
'Don't you want to join us?' I was recently asked by an acquaintance when he ran across me alone after midnight in a coffeehouse that was already almost desert…
Permalink to quote #83 Evil is whatever distracts.
Permalink to quote #85 Don't despair, not even over the fact that you don't despair.
Permalink to quote #82
Related quotes
The desire not to destroy the palace but to move into it oneself has always been the occupational curse of revolutionaries.
Wilfrid SheedWilfrid Sheed quote #10 You can't fight City Hall. It keeps changing its name.
Jack KerouacJack Kerouac quote #16 We must realize that today's Establishment is the New George III. Whether it will continue to adhere to his tactics, we do not know. If it does, the redress, h…
William O. DouglasWilliam O. Douglas quote #19