Quotes About Authority

Later that day when I passed the Admin lieutenant and the Sargeant standing by the Desk, I said casually, I'm leaving too, Sarge. Okay, he said, and I kept on walking.

It was an inflexible maxim of Roman discipline that good soldier should dread his own officers far more than the enemy

Augustus was sensible that mankind is governed by names; nor was he deceived in his expectation, that the senate and the people would submit to slavery, provided they were respectfully assured that they still enjoyed their ancient freedoms.

it was much less dangerous for the disciples of Christ to neglect the observance of the moral duties, than to despise the censures and authority of their bishops.

unchecked power corrupts.  

Once the monarchy was abolished, a decree was passed that there would be no more kings in Rome.

The image of a free constitution was preserved with decent reverence: the Roman senate appeared to possess the sovereign authority, and devolved on the emperors all the executive powers of government. 

so intimate is the connexion between the throne and the altar, that the banner of the church has very seldom been seen on the side of the people.

He there experienced that the most absolute power is a weak defence against the effects of despair.

Of the various forms of government which have prevailed in the world, an hereditary monarchy seems to present the fairest scope for ridicule.

The authority of the prince, said Artaxerxes, must be defended by a military force; that force can only be maintained by taxes; all taxes must, at last, fall upon agriculture; and agriculture can never flourish except under the protection of justice and moderation. ^55

the younger Andronicus was speedily corrupted by his infant greatness

Regular pay, occasional donatives, and a stated recompense, after the appointed time of service, alleviated the hardships of the military life, whilst, on the other hand, it was impossible for cowardice or disobedience to escape the severest punishment. The centurions were authorized to chastise with blows, the generals had a right to punish with death; and it was an inflexible maxim of Roman discipline, that a good soldier should dread his officers far more than the enemy.

They soon experienced, that those who refuse the sword must renounce the sceptre. 

I myself, continued Attila, will throw the first javelin, and the wretch who refuses to imitate the example of his sovereign, is devoted to inevitable death.

He commanded a painter to reverse the figures and the attitudes; and the emperors were delineated on the same canvas, approaching in a suppliant posture to empty their bags of tributary gold

A republican spirit was insensibly revived in the senate, as their authority, and even their supplies, became necessary for the support of his feeble government.

The lawyers and historians concurred in teaching, that the Imperial authority was held, not by the delegated commission, but by the irrevocable resignation of the senate; that the emperor was freed from the restraint of civil laws, could command by his arbitrary will the lives and fortunes of his subjects, and might dispose of the empire as of his private patrimony. [

Philip, his successor in the præfecture, was an Arab by birth, and consequently, in the earlier part of his life, a robber by profession.

be apprehensive of delations, which, as a subject, I have always condemned, and, as a prince, will severely punish.

The books of jurisprudence were interesting to few, and entertaining to none: their value was connected with present use, and they sunk forever as soon as that use was superseded by the innovations of fashion, superior merit, or public authority.

The authority of the prince, said Artaxerxes, must be defended by a military force; that force can only be maintained by taxes; all taxes must, at last, fall upon agriculture; and agriculture can never flourish except under the protection of justice and moderation.

But the obedience of the Roman world was uniform, voluntary, and permanent.

A Locrian who proposed any new law stood forth in the assembly of the people with a cord round his neck, and if the law was rejected, the innovator was instantly strangled.