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Power quotes

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“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

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

“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

“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

“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

“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

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

“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

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

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

“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

“Wouldn't it be a beautiful world if just 10 percent of the people who believe in the power of love would compete with one another to see who could do the most good for the most people?” Muhammad Ali, “The Soul of a Butterfly” - 2004

“The greater a man's talents, the greater his power to lead astray.” Aldous Huxley, “Brave New World” - 1932

“I know that nothing is impossible for pure love.” Mahatma Gandhi, “The Story of my Experiments with Truth” - 1929

“How heavy is the toll of sins and wrongs that wealth, power and prestige exact from man!” Mahatma Gandhi, “The Story of my Experiments with Truth” - 1929

“Of so little weight are the greatest services to princes, when put into the balance with a refusal to gratify their passions.” Jonathan Swift, “Gulliver's Travels” - 1726

“When a great office is vacant, either by death or disgrace (which often happens,) five or six of those candidates petition the emperor to entertain his majesty and the court with a dance on the rope; and whoever jumps the highest, without...” Jonathan Swift, “Gulliver's Travels” - 1726

“Hence in a constitutional government the fighting-men have the supreme power, and those who possess arms are the citizens.” Aristotle, “Politics”

“They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force—nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others.” Joseph Conrad, “Heart of Darkness” - 1899

“There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will be overlooked long, even if it is, the consciousness of possessing and using it well should satisfy one, and the great charm of all power is modesty.” Louisa May Alcott, “Little Women” - 1868

“Remember, you have been given absolute power to bind and to loose, but the greater the power, the more terrible its responsibility.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, “The Brothers Karamazov” - 1880

“Power when wielded by abnormal energy is the most serious of facts, and all Roosevelt's friends know that his restless and combative energy was more than abnormal.” Henry Adams, “The Education of Henry Adams” - 1906

Related topics

freedom love strength good money politics force obedience desire authority peace democracy life music fear sin poverty evil weakness equality

Related authors

William Shakespeare (11)
Milton Friedman (4)
George Orwell (3)
Mahatma Gandhi (3)
Thomas Paine (3)
Henry David Thoreau (2)
Jonathan Swift (2)
Aristotle (2)
Henry Adams (2)
John Stuart Mill (2)
Alexis de Tocqueville (2)
Thomas Jefferson (2)
Margaret Thatcher (2)
Henry Kissinger (2)
Mary Shelley (2)
Oprah Winfrey (2)
John F. Kennedy (2)
Woodrow Wilson (2)
Charlotte Brontë (1)
Nelson Mandela (1)

Related sources

Capitalism and Freedom (4)
1984 (3)
The Story of my Experiments with Truth (3)
Inaugural Address (3)
Common Sense (3)
All's Well That Ends Well (2)
Julius Caesar (2)
Henry IV, Part 2 (2)
Civil Disobedience (2)
State of the Union Address (2)
Gulliver's Travels (2)
Politics (2)
The Education of Henry Adams (2)
The Subjection of Women (2)
Democracy in America (2)
Frankenstein (2)
What I Know For Sure (2)
A World League For Peace (2)
Richard III (1)
Henry V (1)