Quotes About Authority

The only One who has a right to shape our lives is Jesus Christ. We must determine to allow nothing and no one to shape us, not even our personal experiences, unless they are consistent with the promises of God.

But we forget that government was also created to act and make decisions.

When used as an instrument of enforcement, the courts have morphed from constraints on government to mechanisms by which the scope of government has enormously expanded.

When an American thinks about the problem of government-building, he directs himself not to the creation of authority and the accumulation of power but rather the limitation of authority and the division of power.

Joseph Stalin was said to have contemptuously asked, "How many divisions has the pope?

The rule of law constitutes a basic protection of individuals against tyrannical government. But in the second half of the twentieth century, law lost its focus as a constraint on government and became instead an instrument for widening the scope of government.

A high degree of autonomy is what permits innovation, experimentation and risk taking in a bureaucracy. If the slightest mistake can end a career, then no one will ever take risks.

In the hands of good leaders, such a system can actually perform better than a democratic system that is subject to rule of law and formal democratic procedures like multiparty elections. It can make large, difficult decisions without being hampered by interest groups, lobbying, litigation, or the need to form cumbersome political coalitions or educate the public as to their own self-interest.

Slavery and serfdom, while not unknown in tribal societies, expand enormously under the aegis of states.

This is, in effect, the essence of politics: the ability of leaders to get their way through a combination of authority, legitimacy, intimidation, negotiation, charisma, ideas, and organization.

A political system that is all checks and balances is potentially no more successful than one with no checks, because governments periodically need strong and decisive action.

highly corrupt governments usually have big problems in delivering services, enforcing laws, and representing the public interest.

Recognition is the central problem of politics because it is the origin of tyranny, imperialism, and the desire to dominate.

the real driver of state formation is violence or the threat of violence, making the social contract an efficient rather than a final cause.

Do 'keystones' have a 'Master'?

The way to subject all things to thyself is to subject thyself to reason; thou shalt govern many if reason govern thee. Wouldst thou be a monarch of a little world, command thyself.

Donde hay poca justicia es un peligro tener razón.

El centro de la telaraña, según nos van a revelar los estudios de caso más adelante, eran las relaciones personales, privadas, del jefe del grupo o responsable del país con los más altos niveles del Estado y los partidos, y también, en el caso del jefe de proyectos, con los niveles medios y bajos de la red.

Cárdenas se convirtió en el nuevo Porfirio Díaz. Imposible que se moviera una hoja de papel sin su autorización, y sin embargo pasó a la historia como el salvador

Dans ce pays-ci il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres. (In this country England it is thought well to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others. from Candide)

There has never been a perfect government, because men have passions and if they did not have passions, there would be no need for government.

A leading authority is anyone who has guessed right more than once.

Were crimes respected? Well, yes. In a sense they were. They gave employment, do you see, to a vast number of people -- policemen, judges, lawyers and such like, who would otherwise have had no place in society.

Off with their heads!