more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
It is because those in authority are too fond of action that the people are difficult to govern.
Gist of Idea
People are hard to govern because authorities love to do things
Source
Laozi (Lao Tzu) (Daodejing (Tao Te Ching) [c.530 BCE], II.LXXV.181)
Book Ref
Lao Tzu: 'Tao Te Ching', ed/tr. Lau,D.C. [Penguin 1963], p.137
A Reaction
I love this. It should be on the wall of every human institution in our civilization. How the heart sinks at the prospect of a 'new initiative'. Not that I am against action; it is just important to recognise that inaction is sometimes the best option.
| 6329 | People are hard to govern because authorities love to do things [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 19980 | If a government is to be preserved, it must first be loved [Montesquieu] |
| 19996 | A government has a legislature, an international executive, and a domestic executive [Montesquieu] |
| 3927 | Society prefers helpful lies to harmful truth [Hume] |
| 19820 | The state has a legislature and an executive, just like the will and physical power in a person [Rousseau] |
| 19827 | Law makers and law implementers should be separate [Rousseau] |
| 7228 | Individuals often do things better than governments [Mill] |
| 20254 | People govern for the pleasure of it, or just to avoid being governed [Nietzsche] |
| 20939 | What is the function of a parliament? Does it even constitute a part of the State structure? [Gramsci] |
| 22236 | The big question of the Renaissance was how to govern everything, from the state to children [Foucault] |
| 20506 | 'Separation of powers' allows legislative, executive and judicial functions to monitor one another [Wolff,J] |