John Dewey: “When a state is a good state, when the officers of the public genuinely serve the public interests, this reflex effect…”

That the state should be to some a deity and to others a devil is another evidence of the defects of the premises from which discussion sets out.

They are reflections into the singular human being of customs and institutions; they are not natural, that is, “native,” organic propensities.

The idea remains barren and empty save as it is incarnated in human relationships.

But in this respect he does not differ from those explicitly designated public officials who have also been known to betray the interest committed to them instead of faithfully representing it.