Quotes About Authority

Although she was fragile in appearance, every prohibition lost substance in her presence.

I had taken away my own time and added it to his to make him more powerful.

For example, I came to my exams very well prepared, but if the professor were suddenly to ask me, "Do you know from what works I derive the authority on the basis of which I teach this subject in this university?" I wouldn't know what to answer. But the others knew. So I moved among them fearful of saying and doing the wrong things.

Parole: con quelle si fa e si disfa come si vuole.

How difficult it is to find one's way , how difficult it is not to violate any of the incredibly detailed male regulations.

La culpa no la tienen quienes se rebelan, la culpa la tienen quienes no saben gobernar.

As for me, it's hard to say in what tangle of feelings I found myself. I always defended Lila, and I liked doing so, I liked to hear myself speak with the authority of one who is studying difficult subjects.

Most of those who came were women, and I was now much criticized, now much praised by opposing groups. At first I was frightened, but Mariarosa interceded with authority and I discovered in myself an unsuspected capacity to summarize disagreement and agreement, choosing in the meantime a role as mediator. I was good at saying in a convincing way: That isn't exactly what I meant.

authority is a patina and at times it doesn't take much to crack it, if only for a few minutes, and glimpse a less edifying person.

Por trás de toda disciplina está o pau, e quando o pau se sente impotente, recorre ao porrete, à polícia, às prisões, ao exército, aos campos de concentração; e se você não se submete, se ao contrário continua questionando tudo, vem o massacre.

She claimed that she was in the service of the workers, and yet, from her room in a house full of books and with a view of the sea, she wanted to command you, she wanted to tell you what you should do with your work, she decided for you, she had the solution ready even if you ended up in the street.

Palabras, con ellas se hace y se deshace a voluntad.

Lies, lies, adults forbid them and yet they tell so many.

Mentiras, mentiras, los adultos las prohíben y entretanto cuentan muchas.

Sebbene Nino non mi desse corda, il solo intravederlo mi teneva la testa per aria durante le lezioni. La sua presenza qualche aula più' in la', vero, vivo, colto più' dei professori e coraggioso e disobbediente, svuotava di senso i discorsi dei miei insegnanti, le righe dei libri, i progetti di matrimonio, la pompa di benzina lungo lo stradone

Words: with them you can do and undo as you please.

Uno empieza a saber lo que es un gobierno, se da cuenta de lo que es, cuando este gobierno lanza los tanques a la calle. •Alfonso Salinas Moya, de la Escuela de Odontología de la UNAM

I am adding the next chapters to my manual of disobedience.

viento, te vas a volver estancia frente al mar; tú, sol, vas a entrar cuando yo te lo ordene; tú lluvia, vas a obedecerme y dejar que te almacene. Aquí yo soy el que resuelvo; ustedes, elementos, se concentrarán y dispersarán a mi antojo».

El que detenta el poder siempre está obligado a ser el más generoso. •José Ignacio Barraza, de la Facultad de Leyes de la UNAM

Qué poca cosa, qué inferior se habrá sentido el presidente de México ante la voz de los estudiantes, para acallarla con armas! Los jóvenes no tenían más armas que su juventud. Sólo a balazos aniquiló Días Ordaz las peticiones que no podía atender. ¡Cómo habrán herido las consignas del CNH al gobierno, que les respondió con ráfagas de plomo!

Qué poca cosa, qué inferior se habrá sentido el presidente de México ante la voz de los estudiantes, para acallarla con las armas!

The first thing a proprietor learns, and painfully at that, is: Trust is fine, but control is better.

The paranoiac is the exact image of the ruler. The only difference is their position in the world. One might even think the paranoiac the more impressive of the two because he is sufficient unto himself and cannot be shaken by failure.