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Tyranny quotes

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

“The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny.” Aesop, Aesop's Fables

“It is our belief that the state is the servant of the citizen and not his master.” John F. Kennedy, State of the Union Address

“A State for one man is no State at all.” Sophocles, Antigone

“O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia, and Africa, have long expelled her—Europe...” Thomas Paine, Common Sense

“Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are all embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.” Bertrand Russell, Sceptical Essays

“religion, and not fear, has ever been the cause of the long-lived prosperity of an absolute government.” Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

“An absolute monarchy is one in which the sovereign does as he pleases so long as he pleases the assassins.” Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.” George Orwell, 1984

“And so tyranny naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme form of liberty?” Plato, The Republic

“Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull.” George Orwell, 1984

“One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to interfere with happiness...” Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness

“If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none. Let him forget there is such a thing as war.” Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

“To tyrannize for the country is to tyrannize over the country.” Rabindranath Tagore, The Home and the World

“Let us render the tyrant no aid; let us not hold the light by which he can trace the footprints of our flying brother.” Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

“Oh, God, the terrible tyranny of the majority.” Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

“Jealousy is a virtue of democracies which preserves them from tyrants.” Anatole France, Penguin Island

“This work was strictly voluntary, but any animal who absented himself from it would have his rations reduced by half.” George Orwell, Animal Farm

“She wished him to owe his recovery to her alone—to her care, to her tireless devotion. That is the other side of selflessness: its tyranny.” Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin

“History has informed us that bodies of men, as well as individuals, are susceptible of the spirit of tyranny.” Thomas Jefferson, A Summary View of the Rights of British America

Related topics

state oppression government slavery democracy freedom liberty majority power future politics thought happiness work dictatorship religion war history light care

Related authors

George Orwell (4)
Bertrand Russell (2)
Ray Bradbury (2)
Thomas Paine (1)
Aesop (1)
John F. Kennedy (1)
Plato (1)
Frederick Douglass (1)
Alexis de Tocqueville (1)
Ambrose Bierce (1)
Thomas Jefferson (1)
Sophocles (1)
Margaret Atwood (1)
Rabindranath Tagore (1)
Anatole France (1)

Related sources

1984 (3)
Fahrenheit 451 (2)
Democracy in America (1)
Aesop's Fables (1)
The Republic (1)
Animal Farm (1)
Sceptical Essays (1)
The Devil's Dictionary (1)
The Conquest of Happiness (1)
State of the Union Address (1)
The Blind Assassin (1)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1)
Antigone (1)
The Home and the World (1)
A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1)
Common Sense (1)
Penguin Island (1)