Quotes About Power

Who is there left for me to fear, and over what has he control? Not what is in my power, because no one controls that except myself. As for what is not in my power, in that I take no interest.

The people before whom you bow and tremble – when I meet them, I treat them as if they were slaves.

has any of you such power as Socrates had, in all his intercourse with men, of winning them over to his own convictions?

You do not seem to realize that the mind is subject only to itself. It alone can control it, [13] which shows the force and justice of God's edict: the strong shall always prevail over the weak.

Some things are up to us, and some things are not up to us.

What else is freedom but the power to live our life the way we want? 'Nothing.

If you want not just peace and contentment, but power and wealth too, you may forfeit the former in seeking the latter, and will lose your freedom and happiness along the way. Whenever distress or displeasure arises in your mind, remind yourself, "This is only my interpretation, not reality itself." Then ask whether it falls within or outside your sphere of power. And, if it is beyond your power to control, let it go.

Transfer caution to the will and the functions of the will, and the mere wish will bring with it the power of avoidance. But if we direct it at what is outside us and is none of our responsibility, wanting instead to avoid what's in the control of others, we are necessarily going to meet with fear, upset and confusion.

Make the best use of what is in our power, and treat the rest in accordance with its nature. And what is its nature? However God decides.

distinguish between your own and not your own, the things which are in your power and not in your power

Epictetus] believes that God gave man the means to fulfill all his obligations; that these means are within his power, that happiness is attained through what we are capable of, this being the reason God gave them to us. Our mind cannot be forced to believe what is false, nor our will compelled to love something that makes it unhappy. These two powers are therefore free, and it is through them that we can become perfect.

Our master is anyone who has the power to implement or prevent the things that we want or don't want. Whoever wants to be free, therefore, should wish for nothing or avoid nothing that is up to other people.

Then I'll have you chained up.' What are you saying, man, chain me up? You can chain my leg, but not even Zeus can overcome my power of choice. [24] 'I'll throw you into prison.' You mean my poor body. 'I'll have you beheaded.' Why, did I ever tell you that I'm the only man to have a neck that can't be severed? [

If you wish to have peace and contentment, release your attachment to all things outside your control. This is the path of freedom and happiness. If you want not just peace and contentment, but power and wealth too, you may forfeit the former in seeking the latter, and will lose your freedom and happiness along the way.

but we should rather believe the philosophers who say that the educated only are free. How is this? In this manner: Is freedom anything else than the power of living as we choose? Nothing else.

There are things that are within our power, and things that fall outside our power. Within our power are our own opinions, aims, desires, dislikes—in sum, our own thoughts and actions.

But it is within your power to avoid disappointment, by directing your desires to things that are rightfully yours to obtain and control.

Soon shall thy arm, UNCONQUER'D STEAM! afar Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car; Or on wide-waving wings expanded bear The flying-chariot through the fields of air.

just programmed into the bomb's guidance system. "Hey!" the copilot told the Delta operator. "We don't

Genocide, after all, is an exercise in community-building. —Philip Gourevitch

Give a man a hoe and he is something to exploit. Give him a book and he is something to fear.

So where you've got one pope, they've got a whole bunch of 'em?

The law on the side of freedom is of great advantage only where there is power to make that law respected. - Frederick Douglass

While freedom can be achieved, it may also be reduced or rescinded, It can never be taken for granted.