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Obedience quotes

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“White Fang knew the law well: to oppress the weak and obey the strong.” Jack London, “White Fang” - 1906

“But we must remember that good laws, if they are not obeyed, do not constitute good government.” Aristotle, “Politics”

“The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms strength into right, and obedience into duty.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “The Social Contract” - 1762

“Fear is strange soil. Mainly it grows obedience like corn, which grows in rows and makes weeding easy. But sometimes it grows the potatoes of defiance, which flourish underground.” Terry Pratchett, “Small Gods” - 1992

“When I refuse to obey an unjust law, I do not contest the right which the majority has of commanding, but I simply appeal from the sovereignty of the people to the sovereignty of mankind.” Alexis de Tocqueville, “Democracy in America” - 1835

“a man with a club was a lawgiver, a master to be obeyed, though not necessarily conciliated.” Jack London, “The Call of the Wild” - 1903

“the woman does not work because the man tells her to work and she obeys. On the contrary, the woman works because she has told the man to work and he hasn't obeyed.” G. K. Chesterton, “What's Wrong with the World” - 1910

“Obedience is not enough. Unless he is suffering, how can you be sure that he is obeying your will and not his own? Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new...” George Orwell, “1984” - 1949

“Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?” Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience” - 1849

“But there were other forces at work in the cub, the greatest of which was growth. Instinct and law demanded of him obedience. But growth demanded disobedience.” Jack London, “White Fang” - 1906

“Thus it was that in obedience to the law laid down by his mother, and in obedience to the law of that unknown and nameless thing, fear, he kept away from the mouth of the cave.” Jack London, “White Fang” - 1906

“Food and fire, protection and companionship, were some of the things he received from the god. In return, he guarded the god's property, defended his body, worked for him, and obeyed him.” Jack London, “White Fang” - 1906

“Yet command and obedience are but unfortunate necessities of human life: society in equality is its normal state.” John Stuart Mill, “The Subjection of Women” - 1869

“Men are not corrupted by the exercise of power or debased by the habit of obedience, but by the exercise of a power which they believe to be illegal and by obedience to a rule which they consider to be usurped and oppressive.” Alexis de Tocqueville, “Democracy in America” - 1835

“There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must be not attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed.” Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” - 5th century BC

“The public weal requires that men should betray, and lie, and massacre; let us leave this commission to men who are more obedient and more supple.” Michel de Montaigne, “The Essays of Michel de Montaigne” - 1580

“Thou art my father, thou my author, thou my being gav'st me; whom should I obey but thee? whom follow?” John Milton, “Paradise Lost” - 1667

“When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, “The Little Prince” - 1943

“Make me into anything, but just love me.” Chuck Palahniuk, “Invisible Monsters” - 1999

“Our cause is never more in danger, than when a human, no longer desiring, but intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.” C. S. Lewis, “The Screwtape Letters” - 1942

“I’m putting you in Dink Meeker’s toon. From now on, as far as you’re concerned, Dink Meeker is God.” Orson Scott Card, “Ender's Game” - 1985

Related topics

power law strength fear work government love violence women justice lie betrayal weakness equality pain danger corruption father growth society

Related authors

Jack London (5)
Alexis de Tocqueville (2)
George Orwell (1)
Henry David Thoreau (1)
G. K. Chesterton (1)
C. S. Lewis (1)
Aristotle (1)
John Stuart Mill (1)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1)
Sun Tzu (1)
Michel de Montaigne (1)
Terry Pratchett (1)
Chuck Palahniuk (1)
John Milton (1)
Orson Scott Card (1)
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1)

Related sources

White Fang (4)
Democracy in America (2)
1984 (1)
Civil Disobedience (1)
What's Wrong with the World (1)
Politics (1)
The Subjection of Women (1)
The Social Contract (1)
The Art of War (1)
The Essays of Michel de Montaigne (1)
Paradise Lost (1)
Ender's Game (1)
The Little Prince (1)
Small Gods (1)
Invisible Monsters (1)
The Screwtape Letters (1)
The Call of the Wild (1)