Quotes About Authority

If they [Plato and Aristotle] wrote about politics it was as if to lay down rules for a madhouse. And if they pretended to treat it as something really important it was because they knew that the madmen they were talking to believed themselves to be kings and emperors. They humoured these beliefs in order to calm down their madness with as little harm as possible.

There are two ways of persuading men of the truths of our religion; one by the power of reason, the other by the authority of the speaker. We do not use the latter but the former. We do not say: 'You must believe that because Scripture, which says it, is divine,' but we say that it must be believed for such and such a reason. But these are feeble arguments, because reason can be bent in any direction.

The art of opposition and of revolution is to unsettle established customs, sounding them even to their source, to point out their want of authority and justice.

186] You abuse the trust people have in the Church and make them believe anything.

Nos magistrats ont bien connu ce mystère. Leurs robes rouges, leurs hermines dont ils s'emmaillotent en chaffourés, les palais où ils jugent, les fleurs de lys, tout cet appareil auguste était fort nécessaire, et si les médecins n'avaient des soutanes et des mules, et que les docteurs n'eussent des bonnets carrés et des robes trop amples de quatre parties, jamais ils n'auraient dupé le monde qui ne peut résister à cette montre si authentique.

We do not choose as captain of a ship the most highly born of those aboard.

Justice is subject to dispute; might is easily recognized and is not disputed. So we cannot give might to justice.

La giustizia è soggetta a discussione, la forza è molto riconosciuta e indiscussa. Così non si è potuto dare la forza alla giustizia perché la forza ha contraddetto la giustizia e ha affermato che solo lei era giusta. E così, non potendo ottenere che ciò che è giusto sia forte, si è fatto sì che ciò che è forte sia giusto

Goering's on the phone to Freiburg - Says, Willie's done quite a job - Hitler's on the phone from Berlin - Says, I'm gonna make you a STAR!

To live outside the law you must be honest.

This land is your land and this land is my land, sure, but the world is run by those that never listen to music anyway.

Some times I think this whole world Is one big prison yeard Some of us are prisoners The rest of us are guards

Johnny's in the basement Mixing up the medicine I'm on the pavement Thinking 'bout the government.

Back seat drivers don't know the feel of the wheel but they sho' know how to make a fuss Bob Dylan/Bonnie Raitt, "Let's Keep It Between Us," 1982

Steal a little and they throw you in jail. Steal a lot and they make you king.

Don't forget, I am above the law [to Michael Hutchence]

The Cellar had been founded by Presidential Decree in order to legally do the illegal.

Tacitus said: 'Chief among the forces affecting folly is lust for power, the most flagrant of all the passions.' Once one treads in the halls of power

Yeah, what's new, a typical case of brass myopia, nothing personal, never a reason for an officer to pay attention to an enlisted joe unless he wants his ass licked or is experiencing some Zulu impulse to ram a spear through your chest.

Tillerson said, and the floodgates gushed open. "The president can't make a decision. He doesn't know how to make a decision.

Sean," Mattis finally said, "I've killed people for a living. If you call me again, I'm going to fucking send you to Afghanistan. Are we clear?

Eventually Porter developed a routine and would bring in two to 10 decision memos for him to sign each day. Trump liked signing. It meant he was doing things, and he had an up-and-down penmanship that looked authoritative in black Magic Marker.

And is there anybody in charge at the White House who was doing anything but kissing his fat butt all over this?

When you're in the White House," Butterfield said, "everyone lies. You can sort of get feeling immune.