Quotes About Power

Together they speak of theopolitical megalomania and of any collaboration of political power and religious sanction—civil religion—that falsely claims to represent the true God and God's will.

T]he beast is not merely "Rome" . . . It is the inhuman, anti-human arrogance of empire which has come to expression in Rome—but not only there . . . All who support the cultural religion, in or out of church, however Lamb-like they may appear, are agents of the beast. All propaganda that entices humanity to idolize human empire is an expression of this beastly power that wants to appear Lamb-like.16

Particular messages may be especially appropriate to particular churches in their unique historical situations. A persecuted church might need to hear the message to Smyrna or Philadelphia, while a church that has accommodated to the norms of its host culture, especially to its lust for power and its civil religion, needs to hear the message to Pergamum or Laodicea. In fact, Harry Maier proposes that privileged Christians in the West need to read Revelation "as a Laodicean."20

There is a lure in power. It can get into a man's blood just as gambling and lust for money have been known to do. This is a Republic. The greatest in the history of the world. I want this country to continue as a Republic. Cincinnatus and Washington pointed the way. When Rome forgot Cincinnatus, its downfall began. When we forget the examples of such men as Washington, Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson. then we start down the road. to ruin."501

The wealthy and powerful have rigged the system to perpetuate their privilege; the professional classes have figured out how to pass their advantages on to their children, converting the meritocracy into a hereditary aristocracy; colleges that claim to select students on merit give an edge to the sons and daughters of the wealthy and the well-connected. According to this complaint, meritocracy is a myth, a distant promise yet to be redeemed.14

Ungenerous to the losers and oppressive to the winners, merit becomes a tyrant.

If I am responsible for having accrued a handsome share of worldly goods—income and wealth, power and prestige—I must deserve them. Success is a sign of virtue. My affluence is my due.

Another way of putting this point is to say that morality is not empirical. It stands at a certain distance from the world. It passes judgment on the world. Science can't, for all its power and insight, reach moral questions, because it operates within the sensible realm.

La financiación de las campañas electorales y las hordas de representantes de los lobbies dan a las grandes corporaciones y a las personas ricas poder suficiente para deformar las reglas a su favor.

Scripture is not only timely but timeless. Just as God spoke to the original audience, so he still speaks to us through the pages of Scripture. Because we share a common humanity with the people of the Bible, we discover a universal dimension in the problems they faced and the solutions God gave them. The timeless nature of Scripture enables it to speak with power in every time and in every culture.

Because parents have power over children. They feel they have to do what their parents say. But the love of money is the root of all evil. And this is a sweet child. And to see him turn like this, this isn't him. This is not him.

The arrogance and brutality of empire are not repealed when they temporarily get deployed in a just cause.

institutions that basically sell you an umbrella, only to take it back as soon as it rains.

The truth was she didn't believe in a God who demanded her adoration. She believed in mystery. She believed in patterns and signs. She believed that quantum physics and the theory of relativity could not coexist in the same universe without help. She believed that there was no evolutionary reason for the way beautiful things could take the breath away or for the power of Art with a capital A.

Giving them 'junk food for thought,' and rewriting history and law.

The hand that mixes the Georgetown martini," Henry Kissinger observed, "is time and again the hand that guides the destiny of the Western world.

Writers are always outsiders and probably ought to be, since only outsiders see things clearly: the people who publish them, or make movies, or produce plays are always richer and more powerful, however successful the writer is.

the United States has no business transforming itself into "an occupying power in a seething Arab world,"12 still good advice; and that if we should ever do so, "I am sure we would regret it." The length, detail, and meticulous

It was all about size now: the big ran the world on the sweat of the small, and if the big faltered for any reason, the small were the first to go.

Trump liked what he heard—not just about the case, but the whole "go to hell" philosophy. From that moment, he adopted the Cohn playbook: when attacked, counterattack with overwhelming force. One of the most influential relationships in Trump's life was now under way.

Even now, running for the most powerful position on the planet, a job that relies almost entirely on the power to persuade those around you, a job heavy on running a team and winning loyalty, even now Donald J. Trump said he made most of his decisions by himself, consulting no one: "I understand life," he said. "And I understand how life works. I'm the Lone Ranger." He

Many rich men don't allow their wives to come to their office. Many women don't know what their husbands do.

The entire world cannot contain My glory, yet when I wish, I can concentrate My entire essence into one small spot.

High voltage wires can electrify or electrocute. It all depends on how they're handled. You can't play games with 10,000 volts. And you can't play games with the power of God. Serving Him is serious business. Our carefree attitudes must go. We must carry out His work in His way, or His fire will consume us instead of our offerings.