Quotes About Power

They both knew what they were thinking, though neither said it: Taryn Grant had what it took to be president. She had the business background, she understood economics and finance, she had the money wrapped up, she looked terrific, she had a mind that understood the necessary treacheries: a silken Machiavelli.

Women don't learn any of that: when they fight, they'll rip the gizzard out of anyone who gets in the way.

Flowers wouldn't be buttering their toast after the next election, but Pweters might be.

there was an immensely satisfying crunch, at that perfect distance where your hand and knuckles don't feel it too much, and your shoulder takes up some of the recoil, and the nose guy's head rockets off your knuckles like a tennis ball flying off a racket.

You could get away with actual crimes for years, if you had enough money to protect yourself.

systems—power, propulsion, communication, life support—were

Good. And I'll tell you, Ron, we are going to put some serious shit on you. We're also going to give you a way out. All of that gets canceled if you talk to Dannon or Grant. They're the targets in this. We've already got a guy willing to swear that Dannon set up the porn deal for Grant. You can walk, or you can get added to the list. I'll see you at three, and we'll decide which it is." Lucas clicked off without giving him a chance to answer.

He wasn't a big fan of actual blood. He wanted submission, and sex, and . . . admiration? Well, fear, anyway. Respect.

The most powerful aspect of any bureaucracy, in Kidd's eyes, was the same thing that gave cancer its power: it was immortal. If you didn't seek it out and kill it, cell by cell, it'd just keep growing. Bureaucracies could chase you forever. You could defeat them over and over and over again, and the bureaucracy didn't much care, though some individual bureaucrats might. The bureaucracy, as a whole, just kept coming, as long as the funding lasted.

bureaucrat said. "Come back with a search warrant

That's bullshit, man," Dannon said. "That whole thing is buried so deep, and the guys who buried it all have stars now. They'd never get you." "That's what I told him," Carver said. "I think he's going to do it anyway. I'm telling you, he's a crazy mean cocksucker. He's got nothing unless I talk, except the 'stan, and he'll use it to bust my balls.

In Lucas's opinion, a good part of the Congress seemed to suffer from the same psychological defects that afflicted Taryn Grant—or that Taryn Grant enjoyed, depending on your point of view. Their bloated self-importance, their disregard of anything but their own goals, their preoccupation with power . . .

What is the point of knowledge if you can't use it to prevail over others?

Never anger a sci-fi writer. These people destroy entire planets over lunch. Imagine what they'll do to you.

In one hand I have a restraining order, and in the other I have a Taser. Which would you like to meet first?

You have doubted me. Doubt me no longer. You have come to destroy me. I am not destroyed. You have come to burn me. I am the consuming fire. You will feel what it is to burn.

The universe isn't going to be conquered by legions of geriatrics. No offense.

It's because I remind them they're not God," I said. "And that if there is one, I'm closer to Him than they are.

When you control communication, you can hide anything you want.

For all that, the higher Kiva ascended the steps of power, the more she realized that her policy of selfishness had, shall we say, certain limits. Perhaps

Cutting the power was necessary to reboot security and other systems, they said. Power will resume momentarily. Be ready to move when it does. Enjoy this music until then! The tablet began playing soothing instrumental versions of modern popular hits. Kiva didn't know whether to shit or hum along.

Now if you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I need to play Russian roulette with our planet's future with the bullet you've so thoughtfully provided. I hope you don't mind if I don't see you out.

I have the power to call you here. As I have the power to condemn you to death. I hope we understand each other.

words themselves are action; they do not simply describe the world but in a very real sense make the world. Therefore it makes sense to pay attention to the worlds people are attempting to create in their words.