Quotes About Power

But the rules are made by people who couldn't win without 'em.

As I've said, freedom is really an illusion. Anytime we think we have a real choice, it just means we haven't seen the shotgun aimed at our navel. I

Turn it in two minutes," Alana said to Bobby, and then she came back to me. "Well, piglet," she said to me, and she reached over and pinched my cheek; not as a doting grandmother might, but more like a shrewd shopper checking the cutlets. I tried to pull away, but it wasn't quite as easy as it sounds, with a very large man pushing a shotgun into my back.

That was almost certainly true—but then, Joe Acosta was a rich and powerful man, and my sister was a tough and stubborn woman, and a meeting of two such people would probably go a lot smoother if at least one person present had just a tiny smidgen of tact. Deborah had never had any; she probably couldn't even spell it. And judging from his reputation, Joe Acosta was the kind of man who would buy tact if he ever needed any. So that left me. I

Sí?"she said shyly, and I marveled once again at the power of my totally smarmy synthetic charm. And in two languages, too.

But surely there is more. Certainly it could never end like this. Somewhere, somehow, isn't it absolutely essential to the immutable principals of Balance, Righteousness, and a healthy GNP that some small but powerful hole card exists? Shouldn't it be true that some unknown but potent force will emerge and set things right? Somehow, somewhere, isn't there something? There is.

Kraunauer smiled, and now the wolf fangs were out for all to see. "Let's just put it this way," he said. "If you're still sitting here in TGK tomorrow at this time, it means I'm dead." He closed the folder and allowed his smile to get much, much broader. "And I don't plan on dying anytime soon, Mr. Morgan.

responsibility, had been shifted from the president's weakening shoulders. It was now up

As long as there are armies, there will be a war. I don't care about symbols.

control of Tunisia, and in both Algeria and

Weakness invites aggression. I truly believe that, and I truly believe we are dangerously weak.

Muscles Are Required, Intelligence Not Expected.

Imagine that the correct words had been chosen by those people who are in charge of our lives. A few well-though-out words and things might have been different. Unfortunately, they have chosen all the wrong words.

Words are the most important thing we have. A few words, one word, can change history.

Sign of an abusive system: getting angry at other's real needs.

He believed there was nothing essentially unAmerican about greed or lust—hey, those qualities were encouraged everywhere from Wall Street to Capitol Hill.

The seat of power in the twenty-first century is information, not oil or geography.

I like watches from that era. Back then a watch was power. Not many people could afford one. The owner of a watch was a man who controlled time...chains and fobs were invented so that even when a man carried a watch in his pocket, you could still see he owned one

His rules were unencumbered by my constraints—the Constitution and the laws promulgated thereunder. Still

Boys groped, boys dissed, boys put you down. But it was the girls who made you bleed

There will always be a Comrade Vo. There have always been governments that tell us what to do and what not to do, to tell us what to believe and how to behave. We are small people who must bend with the slightest breeze. That is the essence of small people. We can no more change these events than we can change the direction of the wind.

Only the weak compromise.

Remember what Lyndon Johnson said about J. Edgar Hoover? I'd rather have him inside the tent pissing out than outside pissing in.

How was it possible that he could handle Swiss bankers, West End impresarios, senior partners and seasoned solicitors, but was a quivering wreck in the presence of this man?