Quotes About Authority

Self-will seems to be the only virtue that takes no account of man-made laws.

YOU WILL REIGN IN TERROR WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT! To do otherwise would make a laughing stock of us both.

I don't care about the little guy. I just hate the big guy. I hate big smug people who think they can get away with things.

You do not mess with the special investigators.

Of course it is. Likes are power," Mintner said, and looked at Eve. "You know what I'm saying. Isn't that how you became a homicide detective?

You learn how to coerce people to do your bidding . . . willingly.

You sound very confident, Teddy," Duncan said. "Is that because you tossed the rape kit or altered the case number so it would never be found?

You and I have a problem, Ronin. You think you're working alone, that we all exist here to shine a spotlight on you and your crusades. You've disrespected me and now, by arresting Towler at our front door, you've disrespected everybody in this building and possibly in the entire department.

Danielson was a talking head in his fifties

Yeah," Snell said, waving a Ferrari past the truck but looking at Eve as he did it, "the same people you're giving blow jobs to every day to get your TV show. The only difference between you and Detective Garvey is that he earned his badge and doesn't have to betray other cops to get ahead.

sweeping relaxation of civil liberties

There are times when even the best manager is like the little boy with the big dog, waiting to see where the dog wants to go so he can take him there.

If I had to sum up in one word the qualities that make a good manager, I'd say that it all comes down to decisiveness.

I am often accused of interfering in the private lives of citizens. Yes, if I did not, had I not done that, we wouldn't be here today. And I say without the slightest remorse, that we wouldn't be here, we would not have made economic progress, if we had not intervened on very personal matters - who your neighbour is, how you live, the noise you make, how you spit, or what language you use. We decide what is right. Never mind what the people think.

I ignore polling as a method of government. I think that shows a certain weakness of mind - an inability to chart a course whichever way the wind blows, whichever way the media encourages the people to go, you follow. If you can't force or are unwilling to force your people to follow you, with or without threats, you are not a leader.

He took over, and he said: 'If I have to shoot 200,000 students to save China from another 100 years of disorder, so be it.'" - Recalling how former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping dealt with the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests

Supposing Catherine Lim was writing about me and not the prime minister...She would not dare, right? Because my posture, my response has been such that nobody doubts that if you take me on, I will put on knuckle-dusters and catch you in a cul de sac...Anybody who decides to take me on needs to put on knuckle dusters. If you think you can hurt me more than I can hurt you, try. There is no other way you can govern a Chinese society.

Whoever governs Singapore must have that iron in him. Or give it up. This is not a game of cards! This is your life and mine! I've spent a whole lifetime building this and as long as I'm in charge, nobody is going to knock it down.

Start with putting three of your friends to jail. You definitely know what for, and people will believe you

One of the hardest lessons to learn in academic life—and for me one of the most disconcerting—is the speed with which a radical insurgency can become orthodoxy. In just a few years a generation of students championing a dangerous new idea are elevated by an initial success into professorships. From these positions of influence they form a powerful network of academic power brokers, which they use to ensure the continuation of the revolution.

What did Doctor Doom really want? He wanted to rule the world. Now, think about this. You could walk across the street against a traffic light and get a summons for jaywalking, but you could walk up to a police officer and say "I want to rule the world," and there's nothing he can do about it, that is not a crime. Anybody can want to rule the world. So, even though he was the Fantastic Four's greatest menace, in my mind, he was never a criminal!

The state is the nursing mother of human culture.

Rule three hundred of obscure leadership if it's your idea, you get to implement it.

You've never seen a politician who's kept his promise. You've never saw a politician who wasn't a liar.....They want you to do what they say because their word is better than that other guy...It's not!...All politicians are assholes.