If you are going to sin, sin against God, not the bureaucracy. God will forgive you but the bureaucracy won't.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Rickover suggests that if one must sin, it is better to offend God than an unyielding bureaucracy, because divine forgiveness is possible while bureaucratic punishment is not.
- In plain terms
- Sin against God, not bureaucracy, because God forgives but bureaucracy won’t.
- What can you take from it?
- Avoid antagonizing rigid institutions.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When is it justified to defy an institution?
- Does this view hold across cultures?
Another view
The advice assumes a belief in divine forgiveness and a hostile bureaucracy.
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