Quotes About Power

Violence is the divine force that everyone tries to use for his own purposes and that ends by using everyone for its own—the Dionysus of The Bacchae

The high priest Caiaphas alludes to this mechanism when he says, "It is better that one man die and that the whole nation not perish." The four accounts of the Crucifix-ion thus enable us to witness the unfolding of the working of the single victim mechanism. The sequence of events, as I have already said, resembles numerous analogous phenomena whose director and producer is Satan. The

The account thus shows once again the omnipotence of mimetic contagion. What motivates Pilate, as he hands Jesus over, is the fear of a riot.

We feel that we are at the point of attaining autonomy as we imitate our models of power and prestige. This autonomy, however, is really nothing but a reflection of the illusions projected by our admiration for them. The more this admiration mimetically intensifies, the less aware it is of its own mimetic nature. The more "proud" and "egotistic" we are, the more enslaved we become to our mimetic models.

Those who might be tempted to give way to despair should realize that nothing accomplished in this order can ever be lost, that confusion, error and darkness can win the day only apparently and in a purely ephemeral way, that all partial and transitory disequilibrium must perforce contribute towards the greater equilibrium of the whole, and that nothing can ultimately prevail against the power of truth.

Là où la royauté a pu se maintenir en devenant « constitutionnelle », elle n'est plus que l'ombre d'elle-même et n'a guère qu'une existence nominale et « représentative », comme l'exprime la formule connue d'après laquelle « le roi règne, mais ne gouverne pas », ce n'est véritablement qu'une caricature de l'ancienne royauté.

W]hat is this law of the greatest number which modern governments invoke and in which they claim to find their sole justification? It is simply the law of matter and brute force, the same law by which a mass, carried down by its weight, crushes everything that lies in its track. It is precisely here that we find the point of junction of the democratic conception and materialism...

Visible things can be invisible. However, our powers of thought grasp both the visible and the invisible – and I make use of painting to render thoughts visible.

He is no longer the pretext for a story: the story itself renders him homage. The works of Fantomas can neither be destroyed nor accept modifications. ...Fantomas requires more of others than of himself ... He is never completely invisible. His likeness can be seen through his face. ... Fantomas's science is more precious than the word. It is not possible to guess it - and no one can doubt its power.

People who have stepped fully into their power know they don't have to push or force things; they know that real power comes from surrender.

The energy of love is indestructible

And thus, the actions of life often not allowing any delay, it is a truth very certain that, when it is not in our power to determine the most true opinions we ought to follow the most probable.

pulled out my Valery Gergiev trump card and said I would have to call him about getting another hotel. There are many ways in which a soprano relies upon the guidance of a conductor, and not all of them are confined to the stage. As a result of dropping the most powerful name in Russian music today, I got a window and a view.

One means of worshipping Aphrodite was as, or through, a hierodule. The word means "sacred servant" but tends to be translated as "temple prostitute," missing the larger idea that sexuality and sensuality have spiritual power and energy,

His specific brief was to cultivate contacts in the Nazi party. It's something we've been slow to get on to. Like others, we've tended to dismiss them as rabble. Now it looks as though they may form part of the next government. Or, God forbid, end up running it.

Spiritual Disciplines involve doing what we can do to receive from God the power to do what we cannot do. And God graciously uses this process to produce in us the kind of person who automatically will do what needs to be done when it needs to be done.

In fact, there is an axiom of martial arts training that everyone ought to know: The way you train is the way you will fight. Martial arts that allow you to apply your technique at close to full power in daily training and sport allow you to constantly use those very techniques in almost exactly the same way during a real fight.

A builder is like a little god - somebody who does things, doesn't just draw things.

Historians and economists are very good at creating and perpetuating myths that justify increasing the power placed in the hands of government.

For decades I've been told by my adversaries in the Religious Right that they only seek a "place at the table" for their Christian worldview—well, their version of Christianity, that is. But evidence has mounted recently that what they really want is something else entirely: to own the table, determine what goes on it, and force-feed everyone the same gruel they consume.

and shoving

When an international financier is confronted by a holdup man with a gun, he automatically hands over not only his money and jewelry but also his shirt and pants, because it doesn't occur to him that a robber might draw the line somewhere.

The passions smothered by modem civilization are doubly ferocious when awakened

He'll listen to me because he has to, or fire me, and he can't fire me because then he would never do any work at all and would eventually starve to death.