Quotes About Authority

God, you don't just barge in on my father, and definitely not my mother. No way. You check with their personal secretaries first. Check out their moods. Then you make an appointment to slip in. There are basic things you learn when your parents run a planet.

Remove the document—and you remove the man.

Eh, Nikanor Ivanovich!' the unknown man exclaimed soulfully. 'What are official and unofficial persons? It all depends on your point of view on the subject. It's all fluctuating and relative, Nikanor Ivanovich. Today I'm a unofficial person, and tomorrow, lo and behold, I'm an official one! And it happens the other way round -oh, how it does! - Chapter 9

No documents, no person.

Co to takiego – je?li kto? zaczyna rozmow?, musi si? to bezwzgl?dnie zako?czy? aresztowaniem?

I said that any sort of power is coercion of the people, and that the time will come when there will be no power, neither of the caesars, nor of any other sort of authority. Man will move on to the kingdom of truth and justice where no kind of power will be needed at all.

that every form of authority means coercion over men, and that a time will come when there shall be neither Caesars, nor any other rulers. Man will come into the kingdom of truth and justice, where there will be no need for any authority.

Your membership cards, please, said the woman. This is really all rather funny! said Koroviev, refusing to give up. A writer isn't a writer because he has a membership card but because he writes. How do you know what bright ideas may not be swarming in my head? Or in his head? And he pointed at Behemoth's head. The cat removed its cap to give the woman a better look at its head. Stand back, please, she said, irritated.

They worked in a hurry, for as every decent man who has taken part in a revolution knows very well - no matter who is in power - searches take place from 2.30 a.m. to 6.15 a.m. in winter and from midnight to 4 a.m. in summer.

The Procurator did not squint because the sun dazzled him. No! For some reason, he did not want to see the group of condemned men who, as he well knew, were being escorted behind him onto the platform. (40)

It was official. At eleven years old, I'd been arrested, charged, and placed in the custody of the Fairfax County Police Department. This is how it all began.

The very beginning of Genesis tells us that God created man in order to give him dominion over fish and fowl and all creatures. Of course, Genesis was written by a man, not a horse. There is no certainty that God actually did grant man dominion over other creatures. What seems more likely, in fact, is that man invented God to sanctify the dominion that he had usurped for himself over the cow and the horse.

In the realm of totalitarian kitsch, all answers are given in advance and preclude any questions. It follows, then, that the true opponent of totalitarian kitsch is the person who asks questions. A question is like a knife that slices through the stage backdrop and gives us a look at what lies hidden behind it.

The very beginning of Genesis tells us that God created man in order to give him dominion over fish and fowl and all creatures. Of course, Genesis was written by a man, not a horse.

En el mismo comienzo del Génesis está escrito que Dios creó al hombre para confiarle el dominio sobre los pájaros, los peces y los animales. Claro que el Génesis fue escrito por un hombre y no por un caballo. No hay seguridad alguna de que Dios haya confiado efectivamente al hombre el dominio de otros seres. Más bien parece que el hombre inventó a Dios para convertir en sagrado el dominio sobre la vaca y el caballo, que había usurpado.

Is a fool on the throne relieved of all responsibility merely because he is a fool?

But, he said to himself, whether they knew or didn't know is not the main issue; the main issue is whether a man is innocent because he didn't know. Is a fool on the throne relieved of all responsibility merely because he is a fool?

La lutte de l'homme contre le pouvoir est la lutte de la mémoire contre l'oubli.

GeleceÄŸe egemen olmak istenilmesinin nedeni, geçmiÅŸi deÄŸiÅŸtirecek güce sahip olmaktan baÅŸka bir ÅŸey deÄŸildir.

In a society run by terror, no statements whatsoever can be taken seriously. They are all forced, and it is the duty of every honest man to ignore them.

The very beginning of Genesis tells us that God created man in order to give him dominion over fish and fowl and other creatures. Of course, Genesis was written by a man, not a horse.

The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.

It is a tragicomic fact that our proper upbringing has become an ally of the secret police. We do not know how to lie. The Tell the truth! imperative drummed into us by our mamas and papas functions so automatically that we feel ashamed of lying even to a secret policeman during an interrogation. It is simpler for us to argue with him or insult him (which makes no sense whatever) than to lie to his face (which is the only thing to do).

It is a tragicomic fact that our proper upbringing has become an ally of the secret police. We do not know how to lie.