Quotes About Authority

subdue the wild beast, which, according to the lively metaphor of Aristotle, [48] seldom fails to ascend the throne of a despot.

But when the consular and tribunitian powers were united, when they were vested for life in a single person, when the general of the army was, at the same time, the minister of the senate and the representative of the Roman people, it was impossible to resist the exercise, nor was it easy to define the limits, of his imperial prerogative.

the Imperial government; as it was instituted by Augustus, and maintained by those princes who understood their own interest and that of the people, it may be defined an absolute monarchy disguised by the forms of a commonwealth.

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

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

He was sternly forbid to pitch his tents in a pleasant valley, lest he should infringe the distant awe that was due to the royal mansion.

The provinces, long oppressed by the ministers of the republic, sighed for the government of a single person, who would be the master, not the accomplice, of those petty tyrants. The people of Rome, viewing, with a secret pleasure, the humiliation of the aristocracy, demanded only bread and public shows; and were supplied with both by the liberal hand of Augustus. The

In reality, Rome had grown too big for lots of people to handle its vast affairs any longer by committee.  

Attila, my lord, and thy lord, commands thee to provide a palace for his immediate reception.

The fortunate ?tius, who was immediately promoted to the rank of patrician, and thrice invested with the honors of the consulship, assumed, with the title of master of the cavalry and infantry, the whole military power of the state;

Here, though, the police do not exist to protect and serve. They exist to maintain terror through unimaginable atrocity.

But the law expects you to know what is master and what is slave . . . if you roll around and be a playmate to your property, and your property turns around and bites you, the law will come to you still, but it will not come with the full heart and all the deliberate speed you will need. You will have failed in your part of the bargain. You will have pointed to the line that separates you from your property and told your property that the line does not matter

But my mother wanted her children to be educated by nuns and priests all dressed in black, the way it had been done down through the generations with her people. Taught by people who had a firm grasp of how big and awful the world could be.

What we need is a new God. Somebody who knows what the fuck he's doing.

was curious, Andrei thought, how these Russians seemed to take pride in the cruelty of their rulers, even when it was directed against themselves. He had several times heard Muscovites speak admiringly of the terrors of Ivan: they seemed almost to long for his return. How different from the Cossack way. The Cossack warrior gave his hetman power of life and death over everyone during a campaign; but woe betide him if he tried to exercise any authority in time of peace!

By this time, the Julian was already eleven days behind the Gregorian calender. But it was better to be a little late than to agree with the Pope!

There seemed to be no one in a position of power, from the Vatican to Wall Street, from Parliament to Scotland Yard to Fleet Street, who could think of anything better to do than abuse it....

politicians seemed to be recruited exclusively from the locked wards of psychiatric hospitals

You will either fear God or other people. There are no other alternatives.

God's self-revelation is a higher authority than our feelings.

Life in the kingdom isn't easy, at least not when we want to share the throne. But

Worldly honor is passé. It is part of a fading kingdom. Honor in Christ is the only true honor.

Manman tells papa, you cannot let them kill somebody just because you are afraid. Papa says, oh yes, you can let them kill somebody because you are afraid. They are the law. It is their right.

The soldiers can come and do with us what they want. That makes papa feel weak, she says. He gets angry when he feels weak.