Quotes About Authority

Standard might soon be in a position to eliminate their oil traffic at whim.

When polled in Harper's presence, not a single trustee endorsed his position—a humiliating blow.

Even as a teenager, Rockefeller demanded to be treated with adult dignity.

During the war he had learned that it was better to let power seek him rather than to pursue it; a good general waited to be summoned by his superiors. p610

They leave no doubt that he was the brains of the operation, directing activities he professed to deplore and setting the tone for his subordinates.

He occupies a position in our business circles second to but few.

1791, the U.S. government granted patents for Parkinson's flax mill, even though he had admitted that they were "improvements upon the mill or machinery . . . in Great Britain."32 Clearly, the U.S. government condoned something that, in modern phraseology, could be termed industrial espionage. Building upon this precedent, Hamilton put the full authority of the Treasury behind the piracy of British trade secrets.

a striking example of political gaucheness, Adams then nominated Washington to command the new army before he had a chance to register an opinion. On July 3, the Senate hastily approved the choice.

Politely firing the man, he took charge of financial matters and pored over stacks of incomprehensible bills.

it used its prestige to stretch the limits of acceptable behavior

that he alone started and stopped panics.

Mr. Rockefeller, maintaining the utmost courtesy, continued to dominate the room.

He never told us what to do or not to do.

Practically not a barrel of oil could get to a railroad without [Rockefeller's] consent.

As philosopher Herbert Spencer once said, "A business partnership, balanced as the authorities of its members may theoretically be, presently becomes a union in which the authority of one partner is tacitly recognized as greater than that of the other or others."16

Eliza never lost her temper, never raised her voice, never scolded anyone—a style of understated authority that John inherited.

Has anyone given you the law of these offices? No? It is this: nobody does anything if he can get anybody else to do it.… As soon as you

Bolstered by the imprimatur

By giving her what she most wanted, he also placed her and the Indonesian government under his direction. What had been granted could also be taken away. That was an authority he had just awarded himself.

Political divisiveness doesn't lend itself to having a coordinated, cooperative, collaborative response against a common enemy. There is also this pushback in society against anything authoritative.

But as Shakespeare's Richard II boasts, 'Not all the water in the rough rude sea/Can wash the balm off from an anointed king.

There's nothing shameful about taking orders from a woman of superior rank.

This is why we need more women officers. For us it's enough to win. For you, the other guy has to know he lost.

Laws are spider webs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught.'" Alice