What has always made the state a hell on earth has been precisely that man has tried to make it heaven. — Friedrich Hölderlin

What has always made the state a hell on earth has been precisely that man has tried to make it heaven.

In the original (German)

Immerhin hat das den Staat zur Hölle gemacht, daß ihn der Mensch zu seinem Himmel machen wollte.

Source: Wikiquote · CC BY-SA 4.0