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Muller was a stickler for duty and discipline, and approached the tasks he was set as if they were military commands. A true workaholic who never took a holiday, Muller was determined to serve the German state, irrespective of what political form it took, and believed that it was everyone's duty, including his own, to obey its dictates without question.

Heinrich Muller#9

HistoryDisciplineDutyObedienceStateWork

About this quote

What does it mean?
He treated tasks as military commands and was determined to serve the German state regardless of its political form.
In plain terms
He was a disciplined workaholic who obeyed state orders without question.
What can you take from it?
Blind obedience to the state can justify serving any government.

Where it applies

  • military study
  • bureaucratic review
  • ethical analysis

Putting it to work

  • study obedience
  • analyze state service
  • review military discipline

Questions to consider

  • Is duty to the state absolute?
  • How far should obedience go?

Another view

The text shows his loyalty but does not judge the morality of his service.

More from Heinrich Muller

  1. He [Muller] was an archetypal middle-rank official: of limited imagination, non-political, non-ideological, his only fanaticism lay in an inner drive to perfec…

    Permalink to quote #8
  2. He was the unobtrusive type of police official who leaves no personal impression on the memory. Later, all I could remember was a pair of piercing grey-blue ey…

    Permalink to quote #10
  3. He worked anonymously, and he has left hardly a trace behind. We find his signature on orders authorising the most atrocious deeds. We glimpse him once or twic…

    Permalink to quote #7

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