Quotes About Authority

According to the social compact tradition articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, government is legitimate because the people consent to it, thus agreeing in some sense to respect its determinations. But people can consent only because they have a basic right to decide whether or not to consent, a right that is not a mere privilege from the government.

politics is then basically an act of will, not of reason.

This way of seeing things makes it impossible to distinguish free states from tyrannies, just rulers from unjust rulers, or healthy regimes from abusive regimes. In practice, it would mean that whatever political group happens to wield power, by arms or by propaganda, is, ipso facto, legitimate. Yet the whole point of the Declaration and the Constitution was to found a government on something more than accident and force.

People of authority love capes.

Sometimes a commander's decisions must be made without regard for how they will be perceived," Thrawn said. "What matters is that the commander does what is necessary for victory.

All who hold positions of power fear or hate someone. Or something." Arihnda

I said no, Jimmy said. His voice quavered slightly under the blazing heat of her glare, but his words were as solid as a sealant weld. Captain Smith says it's wrong. And I say it's right, Kulasawa snapped. Why listen to him instead of me? Because he's my boss. Jimmy looked at me. And because I trust him. He turned back to Kulasawa. And because he's never needed a gun to tell me what to do.

The fear of the violent and the lawless is no less a tyranny than the edicts that come from the Emperor's throne.

I rule the Empire now. Not some long-dead Emperor; certainly not you. the only treason is defiance of my orders.

You were directly responsible for the deaths of four stormtroopers and thirty-two Imperial army troops, Thrawn continued. Also for the destruction of two Chariot command speeders and their crews. I am not the Lord Darth Vader, Ferrier -- I do not spend my men recklessly. Nor do I take their deaths lightly.

All who hold positions of power fear or hate someone.

Politics, not skill, now dominated the highest levels of military decision-making.

That's the problem with men with money. They think they can do anything they want and get away with it.

I think one should be antagonistic to one's underlings. It keeps them on their toes. ~Soi Fon

All living things believe in someone superior to them, and cannot live unless they blindly follow them. Then, the objects of their faith try to escape this crushing pressure by seeking another being that is more superior to them to believe in. And they, in turn, seek a stronger being still. That is how all kings are born. That is how... all gods are born. –Aizen

No one has ever stood atop the heavens before. Not you…or I…or even the gods. But the unbearable vacancy of heaven's throne ends now. From now on…I will stand at the top.

No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on... I will be sitting on it

Considerations? No thanks, Howard. That's what they make cages out of.

men who so uneasily tolerate superiors patiently suffer a master, and show themselves proud and servile at the same time.

Imaginary enjoyment seems to occur in open disdain of symbolic authority, thumbing its nose at that authority. But symbolic authority depends on this imaginary enjoyment that would "subvert" it because this enjoyment renders subjects docile. For symbolic authority, the danger of the imaginary is only an imaginary danger.

promoted to captain and given command of a company

You can act like a policeman or a soldier, but not both.

Civilians listened to officers, which said a lot about the intelligence of civilians.

They loved their country largely because they controlled it.