The more routine that systematised activities are, the more nearly they are of the monotonous character seen in the habits of social animals and the less necessary are master builders; the more novel actions are, the more necessary are master builders. Dislike of the leader and the promoter, though linked emotionally to progressivism, is linked logically to total conservatism. Conversely, an authoritarian approach, natural enough in the instigator of new activities, is unjustified in the mere overseer of routines. Bertrand De Jouvenel
About This Quote

In the quote above, the author is describing why master builders are necessary. He says that if a group of people have been living the same way for a long time, they will naturally become more and more a part of a routine. As a result, they would begin to depend on a master builder to help them out. That master builder is essentially a leader who has the power to make changes in the lives of those he is trying to help. If they are not going to keep up with their routines, then they will need someone with the power to make those changes.

Source: Sovereignty

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More Quotes By Bertrand De Jouvenel
  1. The entire stock of relationships which suited in war–militiae–was regarded as inadmissible and improper in peace–domi. We have the measure of how right the Romans were in this respect in the experience of the intellectual and moral impoverishment brought about by total mobilisation.

  2. These observations bring out the fact that, whenever liberty is regarded merely as the power to do something which it is desired to do, the tyrant need only base himself on the desires of the masses to suppress the liberties cherished by a few. But...

  3. The modern absolutism, which we find the most natural thing in the world, would have been quite beyond the dreams of the most absolute of kings.

  4. Rejoicing in his absolute authority, the single egoist will exploit it methodically, whereas a mêlée of egoists will bring about a ruinous disorder and a disastrous cleavage, because the contrariety of the appetites to be satisfied will prevent the satisfaction of any single one. Clearly,...

  5. It is as futile and dangerous to aim at making of society one large family, as sentimental socialism seeks to do, as to aim at making of it one large team, as positivist socialism seeks to do.

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