If those extra-social brains are so potent, why after all do they effect so little? A dull police-officer, with the machine behind him, can afford to laugh at most experiments in anarchy.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The author questions why powerful rebellious brains achieve so little. He suggests that state machinery often outweighs individual anarchist experiments.
- In plain terms
- Smart rebellious people often fail because the state is too strong.
- What can you take from it?
- Individual genius rarely overcomes established state power.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do great rebels fail?
- Is state power truly unchallengeable?
Another view
It underestimates the impact of individual ideas on history.
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