Quotes About Influence

Politics is the science of how who gets what, when and why." —Sidney Hillman

Two things to remember in life: "Take care of your thoughts when you're alone", and "Take care of your words when you're with people.

Solomon said if you want to be wise you run with the wise; if you want to be a fool, you run with fools.

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." —Edith Wharton

Individuals score points, but teams win games. This is true in athletic events and in life. If you make it in life, your "team" of parents, teachers, ministers, etc., will have played a major role in your success.

You never know when one kind act, or one word of encouragement, can change a life forever.

You may not be able to change the world, but when you change your world, you have taken a major step in changing the world. And when you change your world for the better, you have positioned yourself perfectly to change the world of those around you.

You are the most influential person you will talk to all day.

My father, his spirit is with me constantly, and I'm a believer in that world and the world of dreams and that stuff.

The political system is not for the people. The people are secondary to the economy. It's about what generates money, not about what benefits the people.

As a little girl, I got to meet Audrey Hepburn, who took my face in her hands and suddenly made me want to be an actress.

Our time is brief, and it will pass no matter what we do. So let us have purpose in spending it. Let us spend it so that our time matters to each of us, and matters to all those whose lives we touch.

Societal expectations matter little; personal expectations matter tremendously.

Our sense of identity is in large measure conferred on us by others in the ways they treat or mistreat us, recognize or ignore us, praise us or punish us. Some people make us timid and shy; others elicit our sex appeal and dominance. In some groups we are made leaders, while in others we are reduced to being followers. We come to live up to or down to the expectations others have of us.

If you want to change a person, you've got to change the situation.

As a result of the prison study, I really became more aware of the central role of power in our lives. I became more aware of the power I have as a teacher. I started consciously doing things to minimize the negative use of power in the classroom. I encouraged students to challenge me.

When I look back on it, I think, "Why didn't you stop the cruelty earlier?" To stand back was contrary to my upbringing and nature. When I stood back as a noninterfering experimental scientist, I was, in a sense, as drawn into the power of the situation as any prisoners and guards.

This is the woman who stopped the Stanford Prison Study. When I said it got out of control, I was the prison superintendent. I didn't know it was out of control. I was totally indifferent. She came down, saw that madhouse and said, "You know what, it's terrible what you're doing to those boys. They're not prisoners, they're not guards, they're boys, and you are responsible." And I ended the study the next day. The good news is I married her the next year.

The truth is strong even if those who support it are weak. Any lie is weak even if those who support it are strong.

The supposedly contending groups who run American society, Democrats and Republicans and Whigs and Democrats and Federalists and anti-Federalists, they really are part of the same elite group.

We don't have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can quietly become a power no government can suppress, a power than can transform the world.

What is called "apathy" is, I believe, a feeling of helplessness on the part of the ordinary citizen, a feeling of impotence in the face of enormous power. It's not that people are apathetic; they do care about what is going on, but don't know what to do about it, so they do nothing, and appear to be indifferent.

I wanted to become a kindergarten teacher like my mother.

Words are never "only words"; they matter because they define the contours of what we can do.