Quotes About Authority

Digamo-lo com franqueza: não há ditador mais sanguinário que o povo; só a mão severa mas justa do chefe lhe pode temperar o furor.

O poder é feito de minúcias.

La plupart des hommes de pouvoir tirent leur aura de la position qu'ils occupent. À partir du moment où ils la perdent, c'est comme si la prise avait été arrachée. Ils se dégonflent comme ces poupées qui se trouvent à l'entrée des parcs d'attractions. On les croise dans la rue et on ne réussit pas à comprendre comment un type de ce genre a pu susciter autant de passions.

Power tires only those who do not have it.

The judges are a big problem. Law is equal for everyone, except for them.

Clericalism: the habitual confusion between that which is of Caesar, and that of God.

The problem with any unwritten law is that you don't know where to go to erase it.

This had occurred to me. But for no reason I can dignify with anything higher than the authority of a two-hundred-year-old gut I didn't buy it. "It's possible," I said. "Of course it's possible." "But you don't think so" "No. I'm not sure why." Another silence, her intelligence working. Then a very slight smile. "It's because it would be less romantic," she said.

It's no surprise to him what any government does, least of all his own.

People should be free, people should be unencumbered by regulation as much as possible, that big government always goes corrupt and the truth shall always set you free.

Not a single time have we gotten a right from Congress or from the President. We get them from God.

Given enough time, guns and ammunition will eventually become so costly and time consuming to purchase, maintain, and insure that a ban will no longer be necessary. And that's what this is really about: control. Not of guns, but of us.

Most young people have rebellious, anti-authoritarian impulses. They don't like being told what, when, or how to do something. It's ironic, then, that many of these same people embrace a system in which there would be far more regulations, many more bureaucrats micromanaging their lives, and far more rules and restrictions on how things can be done.

the last official act of any government is to loot their own treasury.

When men ruled over men, time was wasted and misspent.

Sure, you can raise your speed limit to 80, but we'll just hold on to that highway grant money next year. The states almost always cave; they can't afford not to.

On this great plan, or Constitution the safety and happiness of the United States does, under Almighty God, mainly depend: all our laws are made by its direction or authority; whoever goes contrary to it injures and betrays his country, injures you, injures me, betrays us all, and is deserving of the heaviest punishment.

It's okay for Christians throughout centuries to exterminate races and for their priests to rape little kids throughout decades, but trying to give the people the power to think and be individual, that's evil?

He was very commanding, and you had to know what you were doing to work for Mr. Rogers. I learned how to ride very quickly with him as my riding teacher.

Terrorist', noun: 1. Someone my government tells me is a terrorist; 2. Someone my President decides to kill.

It's common to go from 'crashing the gate' to guarding it.

mass surveillance is a universal temptation for any unscrupulous power.

Bush violated FISA [...] because he wanted to violate the law in order to establish the general 'principle' that he was not bound by the law, to show that he has the power to break the law, that he is more powerful than the law.

And in every instance, the motive is the same: suppressing dissent and mandating compliance.