“All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.” ~ Frank Herbert.
Julian Barnes on Entitlement
You should never underestimate what power and money, or the expectation of both, do to people and their sense of entitlement.
~ Julian Barnes / Interview, April 16th, 2020
Margaret Atwood on Power
“It is just fun for a lot of people to demolish other people and it always has been, across the board. People like doing it. If you’re really going to put yourself in the box marked ‘virtuous’, you’ve got to ask yourself whether you’re actually being virtuous, or whether you’re being sadistic. Be aware of how you’re using your power.”
~ Margaret Atwood
Paul Theroux on Power
The curfew — three years into my time in Africa — was my initiation into the misuse of power, of greed, cowardice and selfishness; as well as, also, their opposites — compassion, bravery, mutual aid and generosity.
~ Paul Theroux / NYT, 30th March 2020
Chinua Achebe on Power
“There is a moral obligation, I think, not to ally oneself with power against the powerless.”
~ Chinua Achebe
Seneca on Provocation
“So the wise man will never provoke the anger of those in power; nay, he will even turn his course, precisely as he would turn from a storm if he were steering a ship.”
Seneca / Epistulae Morales AD Lucilium
Tim Kreider on Freedom
“Doing what I want, and not being made to do things I don’t want to do, has been one of my main priorities in adulthood, the principle around which I’ve structured my life.”
~ Tim Kreider
Abraham Lincoln on Power
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
~ Abraham Lincoln
Epictetus on Power
“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.”
~ Epictetus