Quotes About Rulership

Of course it's not enough to be a good man to be an effective ruler and it never has been.

If the King loves music, it is well with the land.

To understand the nature of the people one must be a prince, and to understand the nature of the prince, one must be of the people

No philosophy, my son; it is of no use to an emperor.

If you're KING be aware of KINGS!

No state, no government exists. What does in fact exist is a man, or a few men, in power over many men.

The heaviest penalty for deciding to engage in politics is to be ruled by someone inferior to yourself.

Politics is the art of acquiring, holding, and wielding power.

The secret of rulership is to combine a belief in one's own infallibility with a power to learn from past mistakes.

parasites seldom altogether abandon a monarch so long as the crown still glitters on his head. ("The Story of Prince Alasi and the Princess Firouzkah")

Who would be a more suitable leader of a city or more worthy to rule over people than a philosopher? It is appropriate for him (if he really is a philosopher) to be wise, self-controlled, magnanimous, a judge of just and proper things, able to accomplish what he sets out to do, and able to endure pain. In addition to these things, he should be bold, fearless, able to face things that seem terrible, and also a benefactor, honest, and humane.

So long as authority comes only from having a hand on a throat, wisdom and mercy are a moot point.

God has set popes over kings and kingdoms.

Let all men know how empty and powerless is the power of kings. For there is none worthy of the name but God, whom heaven, earth and sea obey

It is not I that smite, stab, and slay, but God and my prince, for my hand and my body are now their servants.

God is King of kings.

Dominance is only for GOD.

God is the Lord of lords.

Aggression is simply another name for government.

A wise prince will seek means by which his subjects will always and in every possible condition of things have need of his government, and then they will always be faithful to him.

The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.

The State is the coldest of all cold monsters, and coldly it tells lies, and this lie drones on from its mouth: 'I, the State, am the people'.

The single definition of government I've ever seen that makes sense is that it's the organization which claims the right to kill people who won't do what it wants.

The king reigns but does not govern.