Quotes About Authority

Power corrupts—that has been said and written so often that it has become a cliché. But what is never said, but is just as true, is that power reveals. When a man is climbing, trying to persuade others to give him power, he must conceal those traits that might make others reluctant to give it to him, that might even make them refuse to give it to him. Once the man has power, it is no longer necessary for him to hide those traits. In

its size, the House was an environment in which, as one observer put it, members "could be dealt with only in bodies and droves.

Why political power? Because political power shapes all of our lives. It shapes your life in little ways that you might not even think about.

A surprising number of representatives," the Saturday Evening Post reported, "knew his hat and coat, when it hangs on its accustomed peg in the House restaurant"—a discreet reference to the fact that many Congressmen checked to see that he was present before they entered the restaurant, lest they be forced to pay for their meals themselves.

The author describes Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn as seldom at ease without a gavel in his hand.

Secrecy begets tyranny.

Be wary of strong drink, it can make you shoot at the tax collector...and miss.

To permit irresponsible authority is to sell disaster.

When you vote, you are exercising political authority, you're using force. And force, my friends, is violence. The supreme authority from which all other authorities are derived.

Do this. Don't do that. Stay back in line. Where's tax receipt? Fill out form. Let's see license. Submit six copies. Exit only. No left turn. No right turn. Queue up and pay fine. Take back and get stamped. Drop dead— but first get permit.

A managed democracy is a wonderful thing... for the managers... and its greatest strength is a 'free press' when 'free' is defined as 'responsible' and the managers define what is 'irresponsible'.

No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.

As it says in the Bible, God fights on the side with the heaviest artillery.

Christ was crucified for preaching without a police permit

The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.

Government! Three-fourths parasitic and the rest stupid fumbling - oh, Harshaw concluded that man, a social animal, could not avoid government, any more than an individual could escape bondage to his bowels. But simply because an evil was inescapable was no reason to term it good. He wished that government would wander off and get lost! (96)

Must be yearning deep in human heart to stop other people from doing as they please.

Drop dead-but first get permit

A monarch's neck should always have a noose around it—it keeps him upright.

If Satan should ever replace God he would find it necessary to assume the attributes of Divinity.

Prof is right; more than three people can't decide anything.

Any government will work if authority and responsibility are equal and coordinate. This does not insure "good" government, it simply insures that it will work. But such governments are rare — most people want to run things, but want no part of the blame. This used to be called the "backseat driver" syndrome.

That we were slaves I had known all my life--and nothing could be done about it. True, we weren't bought and sold--but as long as Authority held monopoly over what we had to have and what we could sell to buy it, we were slaves.

My point is that one person is responsible, Always. If H-bombs exist--and they do--some man controls them. In terms of morals there is no such thing as 'state'. Just men. Individuals. Each responsible for his own acts.