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Power quotes

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“Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.” George Orwell, “1984” - 1949

“Politics can be strengthened by music, but music has a potency that defies politics.” Nelson Mandela, “Long Walk to Freedom” - 1995

“What barrier is there that love cannot break?” Mahatma Gandhi, “The Story of my Experiments with Truth” - 1929

“Power and machinery, money and goods, are useful only as they set us free to live.” Henry Ford, “My Life and Work” - 1922

“Beware, for I am fearless and therefore powerful.” Mary Shelley, “Frankenstein” - 1818

“I have a man's mind, but a woman's might.” William Shakespeare, “Julius Caesar” - 1623

“Every citizen, it is said, must have equality, and therefore in a democracy the poor have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme.” Aristotle, “Politics”

“Every friend in power is a friend lost.” Henry Adams, “The Education of Henry Adams” - 1906

“It is a strange desire, to seek power and to lose liberty: or to seek power over others, and to lose power over a man's self.” Francis Bacon, “The Essays of Francis Bacon” - 1597

“The love of power and the love of liberty are in eternal antagonism.” John Stuart Mill, “The Subjection of Women” - 1869

“But thus do I counsel you, my friends: distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful!” Friedrich Nietzsche, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” - 1891

“You can do very little with faith, but you can do nothing without it.” Samuel Butler, “The Note-Books of Samuel Butler” - 1912

“VOTE, n. The instrument and symbol of a freeman's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country.” Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil's Dictionary” - 1911

“Unlimited exploitation of cheap labour-power is the sole foundation of their power to compete.” Karl Marx, “Das Kapital” - 1867

“For the stability and peace of Asia, it is essential to create peace zones to separate the continent's biggest powers and potential adversaries.” 14th Dalai Lama, “Nobel Lecture” - 1989

“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.” Lao Tzu, “Tao Te Ching” - 4th century BC

“We have it in our power to begin the world over again.” Thomas Paine, “Common Sense” - 1776

“Some have little power to do good, and have likewise little strength to resist evil.” Samuel Johnson, “The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia” - 1759

“Being prime minister is a lonely job.” Margaret Thatcher, “The Downing Street Years” - 1993

“Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” Mao Zedong, “Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung” - 1964

“Power without legitimacy tempts tests of strength; legitimacy without power tempts empty posturing.” Henry Kissinger, “Diplomacy” - 1994

“In the past... those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.” John F. Kennedy, “Inaugural Address” - 20 January 1961

“The preservation of freedom is the protective reason for limiting and decentralizing governmental power.” Milton Friedman, “Capitalism and Freedom” - 1962

“Ambition is the immoderate desire of power.” Baruch Spinoza, “Ethics” - 1677

“The object of power is power.” George Orwell, “1984” - 1949

“There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it.” J. K. Rowling, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone” - 1997

“Crowns do queer things to the heads beneath them” George R. R. Martin, “A Clash of Kings” - 1999

“why is it always the innocents who suffer most, when you high lords play your game of thrones?” George R. R. Martin, “A Game of Thrones” - 1996

“Never complain of that of which it is at all times in your power to rid yourself.” Adam Smith, “The Theory of Moral Sentiments” - 1759

“One person with a belief is a social power equal to ninety-nine who have only interests.” John Stuart Mill, “Considerations on Representative Government” - 1861

“Justice without might is helpless; might without justice is tyrannical.” Blaise Pascal, “Pensées” - 1670

“the power to cause pain is the only power that matters, the power to kill and destroy, because if you can’t kill then you are always subject to those who can, and nothing and no one will ever save you.” Orson Scott Card, “Ender's Game” - 1985

“That government is best which governs least” Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience” - 1849

“the monuments of wit and learning are more durable than the monuments of power or of the hands.” Francis Bacon, “The Advancement of Learning” - 1605

“So every bondman in his own hand bears the power to cancel his captivity.” William Shakespeare, “Julius Caesar” - 1623

“A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!” William Shakespeare, “Richard III” - 1597

“There is no fettering of authority.” William Shakespeare, “All's Well That Ends Well” - 1623

“What power is it which mounts my love so high, that makes me see, and cannot feed mine eye?” William Shakespeare, “All's Well That Ends Well” - 1623

“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” William Shakespeare, “Henry IV, Part 2” - 1600

“An habitation giddy and unsure hath he that buildeth on the vulgar heart.” William Shakespeare, “Henry IV, Part 2” - 1600

“Nice customs curtsy to great kings.” William Shakespeare, “Henry V” - 1600

“I think he'll be to Rome as is the osprey to the fish, who takes it by sovereignty of nature.” William Shakespeare, “Coriolanus” - 1623

“O, that a mighty man of such descent, of such possessions, and so high esteem, should be infused with so foul a spirit!” William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew” - 1623

“Though I want a kingdom, yet in marriage I may not prove inferior to yourself.” William Shakespeare, “Henry VI, Part 3” - 1595

“The human and fallible should not arrogate a power with which the divine and perfect alone can be safely intrusted.” Charlotte Brontë, “Jane Eyre” - 16 October 1847

“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

“A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight.” Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience” - 1849

“There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly.” Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience” - 1849

“To describe my mother would be to write about a storm in its perfect power.” Maya Angelou, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” - 1969

“Let them beware of surrendering a political power which they already possess, and which if surrendered will surely be used to close the door of advancement against such as they and to fix new disabilities and burdens upon them till all of liberty...” Abraham Lincoln, “State of the Union Address” - 3 December 1861

Related topics

freedom love good money force strength peace politics obedience evil desire authority democracy people government self life music fear God

Related authors

William Shakespeare (11)
Milton Friedman (6)
George R. R. Martin (5)
J. K. Rowling (4)
John Stuart Mill (4)
George Orwell (3)
Henry David Thoreau (3)
Mahatma Gandhi (3)
Thomas Paine (3)
Chuck Palahniuk (3)
Jonathan Swift (2)
Aristotle (2)
Henry Adams (2)
Francis Bacon (2)
Alexis de Tocqueville (2)
Thomas Jefferson (2)
Margaret Thatcher (2)
Henry Kissinger (2)
Orson Scott Card (2)
Mary Shelley (2)

Related sources

Capitalism and Freedom (6)
1984 (3)
Civil Disobedience (3)
The Story of my Experiments with Truth (3)
The Subjection of Women (3)
Inaugural Address (3)
Common Sense (3)
All's Well That Ends Well (2)
Julius Caesar (2)
Henry IV, Part 2 (2)
A Game of Thrones (2)
State of the Union Address (2)
Gulliver's Travels (2)
Politics (2)
The Education of Henry Adams (2)
Democracy in America (2)
Ender's Game (2)
Frankenstein (2)
Decoded (2)
What I Know For Sure (2)