Quotes About Power

And he and millions of others had just fought a world war to ensure that neither anarchy nor fascism nor anything else would replace the reasonable screwing over of people without money by those who possessed damn near all of it.

Humans were imperfect beings operating in a world over which they had diminishing control.

the business of politics, which essentially meant screwing others before they got around to screwing you.

Montgomery said, "I thought there were, like, laws against that kind of stuff?" "But if you have enough money, the laws don't apply to you

when people stop believing in their institutions, the government often gets toppled.

If Jackson had learned one thing over the years it was that nothing, absolutely nothing, was above corruption so long as human beings were involved, because, in truth, most people were not above the lure of the dollar or other material entitlements.

Regrets? What exactly does that mean? We all have regrets. Indeed we do. But some are far greater than others. And if they are powerful enough, they can consume you completely.

Important man, they say. Lot of important men in this world. But they die just like the rest of us. God's way of making life fair.

Hard, dangerous, unhealthy work was better performed by slaves than those who were free. Or who thought themselves so.

And yet a man with nothing to live for is a powerful man indeed. Perhaps

He (John Puller) wanted to intimidate. Intimidated people with a guilty conscience often made mistakes.

en Washington no había realmente vencedores y vencidos, solo supervivientes.

David Baldacci

Most of what they do is legal because they paid off the lawmakers to make it legal. But some of it's not. But they got money and jobs and lawyers and lobbyists and politicians in their pockets, and so nobody touches them. Same with the good folks at the Rebel Yell.

David Baldacci

He would beat the shit out of me for the slightest thing. But it wasn't the fist or the belt that hurt the most." "It was the words," said Reel.

You can't command men in battle if they like you, Bob," his father had said. "They have to have equal parts fear and respect.

can do this. You can make it. Forty miles per hour. He pushed the throttles ahead and crept the speed stick up to forty-five. He was almost topped out now. Even with the twin stern-drive engines he wouldn't be able to muster more speed without unduly depleting his fuel. And there

But a dictator doesn't need supporters, he just needs followers

Those who only watched pro football from the safety of their stadium seats or big-screen TVs could never imagine the devastating power of enormous men running at speed into other enormous men. It was like being in a car accident over and over. It didn't merely hurt; it stunned. It shocked the body in so many different ways that one could never be the same afterward.

As opposed to what? A country run by old white billionaires and their paid lackeys in Washington?

David Baldacci

Fame and influence are both often fickle and localized.

He was popular with his constituency and his district had been redrawn to make him election-proof.