Quotes About Authority

A hush fell over the room as the man in black stepped up to the podium.

The sun, moon, stars, firmament, the sea and the earth have their fixed course, and if ever they do diverge from their regular course, they always correct themselves again; may Cortes, in his love of power, take this as a precept.

An army, I learned in time, needs a head. It needs one man to lead it, but give an army two leaders and you halve its strength.

Obadiah Hakeswill had never been concerned by such enmity. Power did not lie in being liked, but in being feared.

But Ubba? Only the gods tell him what to do, and you should beware of men who take their orders from the gods.

Yes, sir, Hicks said. He was a small young man, very officious, who would never contradict a superior. If Morris claimed the clouds were made of cheese Hicks would just stand to attention, twitch his nose, and swear blind he could smell Cheddar.

It is hard to force obedience," he said, "without encouraging resentment.

the Christian god has nothing better to do than to make rules for us. He

An archbishop is important to the Christians, he knows more sorcery than ordinary priests, even more than the bishops, and he has more authority. I have met several archbishops over the years and there was not one of them I would trust to run a market stall selling carrots.

The only purpose a Council serves is to make you all feel important.

the Christian god has nothing better to do than to make rules for us. He makes rules, more rules, prohibitions and commandments, and he needs hundreds of black-robed priests and monks to make sure we obey those laws.

Se gli uomini possono comprare la legge, diceva sempre Artù, allora la legge diventa inutile.

So most priests are weak men, but like all men, given some small authority, they become tyrants. And because so many priests are fools they will not think, but simply repeat the things they learned. Things change, but priests do not change. And now things are changing fast.

The people follow him. Because they have no choice. They follow, but do they love him? Some do, Appah Rao answered. But what does it matter? Why should a ruler want his people's love? Their obedience, yes, but love? Love is for children, McCandless, and for gods and for women.

treaties are best negotiated from a position of strength.

If the leader is a good man he will be liked and if he's not, he won't, and if he is a good man and a bad leader then he is better off dead.

Druids are not allowed to write anything down, it's against the rules. You know that! Once you write something down it becomes fixed. It becomes dogma. People can argue about it, they become authoritative, they refer to the texts, they produce new manuscripts, they argue more and soon they're putting each other to death. If you never write anything down then no one knows exactly what you said so you can always change it.

When you are young and powerless you dream of possessing mystical strength, and once you are grown and strong you condemn lesser folk to that same dream

So you settle to be a slave, eh? Yes, lord, no, lord, let me hold your prick while you piss all over me, lord?

Most men want to follow, and what they demand of their leader is prosperity. We are the ring givers, the gold givers.

And when you speak with him," I said, "tell him to stop hitting his wife." Erkenwald jerked as though I had just struck him in the face. "It is his Christian duty," he said stiffly, "to discipline his wife, and it is her duty to submit. Did you not listen to what I preached?

You go back to your kitchen, woman.

It's hard to force obedience without encouraging resentment.

Because I'm tired of Wessex,' I said, 'tired of priests, tired of being told what your god's will is, tired of being told that I'm a sinner, tired of your endless damned nonsense, tired of that nailed tyrant you call god who only wants us to be miserable.