Quotes About Authority

I'm not a natural killer ! See this? See what it says? I'm supposed to keep the peace, I am! If I kill people to do it, I'm reading the wrong manual!

People said that there was one law for the rich and one law for the poor, but it wasn't true. There was no law for those who made the law, and no law for the incorrigibly lawless.

The Empire's got something worse than whips all right. It's got obedience. Whips in the soul. They obey anyone who tells them what to do. Freedom just means being told what to do by someone different.

I have to ask, sir...Why does it have to be done like this? Vetinari smiled. Can you keep a secret, Mister Lipwig? Oh, yes, sir. I've kept lots. Capital. And the point is, so can I. You do not need to know.

We are as gods to beasts of the field. We order the time of their birth and the time of their death. Between times, we have a duty.

Guilt was the grease in which the wheels of the authority turned.

Why not? If enough people believe, you can be god of anything…

I believe the term is 'eminent domain.' Ah, yes. That means 'theft by the government

Bandits and governments 'ave so much in common that they might be interchangeable anywhere in the world...

But we don't do things like that! said Vimes. You can't go around arresting the Thieves' Guild. I mean, we'd be at it all day!

It was written in some holy book, apparently, so that made it okay, and probably compulsory.

Granny's implicit belief that everything should get out of her way extended to other witches, very tall trees and, on occasion, mountains.

Everyone says it's going to be Snapcase at the palace. He listens to the people. Yeah, right, said Vimes. And I listen to the thunder. But I don't do anything about it.

One of my predecessors used to have people torn to death by wild tortoises. It was not a quick death.

And if you couldn't trust the government, who could you trust? Very nearly everyone, come to think of it...

He didn't administer a reign of terror, just the occasional light shower.

Words are the litmus paper of the minds. If you find yourself in the power of someone who will use the word commence in cold blood, go somewhere else very quickly. But if they say Enter, don't stop to pack.

The grags came down heavily on those who did not conform and seemed not to realize that this was like stamping potatoes into the mud to stop them growing.

Shut up sergeant. You're a free troll. That's an order Sam Vimes

Think critically about what you are told. Do not accept the word of authority unthinkingly. Science is not a belief system: no belief system instructs you to question the system itself. Science does. (There are many scientists, however, who treat it as a belief system. Be wary of them.)

He's going to arrest the Patrician, Vimes told himself, the thought trickling through his brain like an icy rivulet. He's actually going to arrest the Patrician. The supreme ruler. He's going to arrest him. This is what he's actually going to do. The boy doesn't know the meaning of the word fear. Oh, wouldn't it be a good idea if he knew the meaning of the word survival...

Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum. When you have their full attention in your grip, their hearts and minds will follow.

Our rulers rule by consent, which means that we like having them as rulers, if they do what we want them to do.

Privilege (to the privileged) means having private laws.