Quotes About Authority

An absolute monarchy is one in which the sovereign does as he pleases so long as he pleases the assassins.

Destiny: A tyrant's authority for crime and a fool's excuse for failure.

Connoisseur, n. A specialist who knows everything about something and nothing about anything else.

We submit to the majority because we have to. But we are not compelled to call our attitude of subjection a posture of respect.

BALLOT, n. A simple device by which a majority proves to a minority the folly of resistance. Many worthy persons of imperfect thinking apparatus believe that majorities govern through some inherent right; and minorities submit, not because they must, but because they ought.

FREEDOM, n. Exemption from the stress of authority in a beggarly half dozen of restraint's infinite multitude of methods. A political condition that every nation supposes itself to enjoy in virtual monopoly. Liberty. The distinction between freedom and liberty is not accurately known; naturalists have never been able to find a living specimen of either.

LAWFUL, adj. Compatible with the will of a judge having jurisdiction. LAWYER, n. One skilled in circumvention of the law.

Destiny, n. A tyrant's authority for crime and a fool's excuse for failure.

ADMIRAL, n. That part of a war-ship which does the talking while the figure-head does the thinking.

Are you a god now, Risika, deciding who is to live and who is to die?

In a way the better the master;the worse the condition of slave,because it makes him forget what he is.

What is it about power, that it has to be higher up than everyone else? Can a man not be powerful on the ground floor?

It's an awful fine line between being raised above folk like a leader and being raised above ´em like a hanged man on display.

You are a king. You have no business talking about the right thing.

Strange, how quickly a king could become an animal. Or half a king half an animal. Perhaps even those we raise highest never get that far above the mud.

Remember, though, that you are the king's observer, not the king's champion.

He's a bloody idiot who knows nothing about anything, but he was born with a cock, so he gets to decide for all of us.

Years, back, when they first made him a sergeant, he'd imagined the officers much have all the answers. When he was given his commission, he'd imagined the generals must have all the answers. When King Orso made him a general, he'd imagined the Closed counsel bust have all the answers. Now, as a lord marshal, he finally knew it for an absolute fact. No one had the answers. Worse. There weren't any.

It was ridiculous the power she had over him. The difference between misery and happiness was the right word from her.

So this is all about appeareances?` murmured Vick. 'Being king IS all about appeareances,' said Orso. 'An endless perfomance with no chance for an encore and for damn sure no applause.

Unity and respect, it seemed, were only for those who did as they were told.

Secrets, power. It's all a metaphor.

The people far prefer a leader who appears great, to one who is.

Tell your father he must come himself. I do not waste my time on fools and younger sons. I am old fashioned in this. I like to talk to the horse's head, not the horse's arse.