"I work for him despite his faults and he lets me work for him despite my deficiencies"
About this Quote
A quiet flex hides inside this modest sentence: Moyers makes loyalty sound like a negotiated truce, not a halo. The line is built on a chiasmus-like mirror swap - his faults/my deficiencies - that turns the usual power dynamic inside out. In one breath, the boss is demoted from omniscient authority to flawed human; in the next, the employee is denied the comforting role of put-upon victim. What’s left is something more adult than admiration: mutual forbearance as the real glue of working relationships.
The intent feels pointedly anti-heroic. Moyers, a journalist who spent time in the machinery of politics and public life, knows how institutions mythologize leaders and sanitize teams. By framing employment as reciprocal tolerance, he punctures the Great Man narrative without sounding bitter. The “despite” repetition matters: it’s an acknowledgment that competence isn’t purity and leadership isn’t sainthood. Everyone is compromised; the question is whether the arrangement still produces good work.
Subtext: this is also a strategy for staying honest in proximity to power. Saying “I work for him” concedes hierarchy, but adding “he lets me” subtly reclaims agency, implying Moyers could choose not to. It’s a reminder that professional intimacy is transactional and fragile, maintained by a shared decision to keep showing up, flaws included. In a culture that sells careers as passion and mentorship, Moyers offers a cooler, more durable ethic: collaboration as mutual permission, renewed daily.
The intent feels pointedly anti-heroic. Moyers, a journalist who spent time in the machinery of politics and public life, knows how institutions mythologize leaders and sanitize teams. By framing employment as reciprocal tolerance, he punctures the Great Man narrative without sounding bitter. The “despite” repetition matters: it’s an acknowledgment that competence isn’t purity and leadership isn’t sainthood. Everyone is compromised; the question is whether the arrangement still produces good work.
Subtext: this is also a strategy for staying honest in proximity to power. Saying “I work for him” concedes hierarchy, but adding “he lets me” subtly reclaims agency, implying Moyers could choose not to. It’s a reminder that professional intimacy is transactional and fragile, maintained by a shared decision to keep showing up, flaws included. In a culture that sells careers as passion and mentorship, Moyers offers a cooler, more durable ethic: collaboration as mutual permission, renewed daily.
Quote Details
| Topic | Husband & Wife |
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