John Berger on bureaucrat
John Berger172 quotes“You are observed with interest but you do not observe with interest – if you do, you will become less enviable. In this respect the envied are like bureaucrats; the more impersonal they are, the greater the illusion (for themselves and for others) of their power.”
More from John Berger
Nakedness reveals itself. Nudity is placed on display. The nude is condemned to never being naked. Nudity is a form of dress.
John BergerJohn Berger For the Cro-Magnons, space is a metaphysical arena of continually intermittent appearances and disappearances.
John BergerJohn Berger Paintings record what the painter remembers. Because each one of us forgets different things, a photo more than a painting may change its meaning according to who is looking at it.
John BergerJohn Berger For the artist, drawing is discovery. And that is not just a slick phrase; it is quite literally true.
John BergerJohn Berger When we read a story, we inhabit it. The covers of the book are like a roof and four walls.
John BergerJohn Berger Every authentic poem contributes to the labor of poetry… to bring together what life has separated or violence has torn apart…
John BergerJohn Berger A drawing is an autobiographical record of one’s discovery of an event – either seen, remembered or imagined. A ‘finished’ work is an attempt to construct an event in itself.
John BergerJohn Berger Deep in the nature of theatre is a sense of ritual. The cinema, by contrast, transports its audience individually, singly, out of the theatre towards the unknown.
John BergerJohn Berger There’s the artist’s intimacy and truthfulness to himself, but an equal intimacy to the Other [the one drawn].
John BergerJohn Berger The human imagination… has great difficulty in living strictly within the confines of a materialist practice or philosophy.
John BergerJohn Berger To be naked is to be oneself. To be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not recognised for oneself.
John BergerJohn Berger What is significant, and is so difficult for the urban stranger to understand, is that the two statements are connected by an and not by a but.
John BergerJohn Berger A cigarette is a breathing space. It makes a parenthesis.
John BergerJohn Berger The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled. Each evening we see the sun set.
John BergerJohn Berger Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at.
John BergerJohn Berger Compassion opposes this order and is therefore best thought of as being in some way supernatural.
John BergerJohn Berger
Original quotes
From our community writers
They bleed not in the mouth but through their ink – indelible and dark.
Juana GarciaJuana Garcia I would rather shoot my arrows than keep them in my bow, I would rather risk it all than risk nothing at all.
ShamaShama I wish I knew then all of the things I know now that I am enough.
TMCTMC I feel like I’m on fire, fighting for a moment on respite – I’m not placing bets.
M.K. StandbyM.K. Standby I found him in all the chaos, and that was when my world started making sense again.
MoomerMoomer The judgement that people cast on you for how you do or do not appear is nothing more than just a projection of their own wounds.
Taj AroraTaj Arora Be grateful for what you have now, even if it’s not everything you wanted.
Sonia SabnisSonia Sabnis It seems strange how we look in the same mirror, yet what stares back, is so painfully different.
Chris AllchinChris Allchin
More on bureaucrat
The power of the glamorous resides in their supposed happiness: the power of the bureaucrat in his supposed authority.
John BergerJohn Berger The envied are like bureaucrats; the more impersonal they are, the greater the illusion (for themselves and for others) of their power.
John BergerJohn Berger Taking control of our laws border and money, run not by a bunch of overpaid bureaucrats in Brussels but by a bunch of overpaid bureaucrats in Britain. That ladies and gentlemen is a dream worth fighting for.
Liz TrussLiz Truss People won’t want powers being handed back from bureaucrats in Brussels to be given to bureaucrats in Britain.
Liz TrussLiz Truss From my experience in working with bureaucrats and politicians, if you are a credible business group, they will definitely help you.
Gautam AdaniGautam Adani
