Frank Herbert Quotes

Political organizations are formed to keep the powerful in power.

Power attracts the corruptible. Suspect any who seek it.

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Power in the hands of the reformer is no less potentially corrupting than in the hands of the oppressor.

Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.

The problem with politics isn't the money; it's the power.

Power has long been regarded as morally corrosive, and we often suspect the intentions of those who seek it.

Government remains the paramount area of folly because it is there that men seek power over others - only to lose it over themselves.

A politician's goal is always to manipulate public debate. I think there are some politicians with higher goals. But all of them get corrupted by power.

Unlimited power corrupts the possessor.

We're taught Lord Acton's axiom: all power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. I believed that when I started these books, but I don't believe it's always true any more. Power doesn't always corrupt. Power can cleanse. What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals.

I have always been fascinated by the corruption of power.

Power is always a corrupting influence.

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.

Occupants of public offices love power and are prone to abuse it.

Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many.

Power corrupts; but absolute power is really neat.

Power tends to corrupt if you're there too long.

Absolute power should never be trusted to man. It has perverted the wisest heads, and corrupted the best hearts in the world. I should be afraid to commit my property, liberty and life to a body of angels for one whole year.

Those in possession of absolute power can not only prophesize and make their prophecies come true, but they can also lie and make their lies come true.

Power is always dangerous. It attracts the worst and corrupts the best..

Power is a very peculiar thing. It's like the ego. The ego's only there to keep you above water. Once we realize something good about ourselves, we have a tendency to abuse the gift.

Once you've built the big machinery of political power, remember you won't always be the one to run it.

As a young man, you're dazzled by the power of the White House and all that. But power tends to corrupt.

The shortest way to change a radical into a conservative, a liberal into a tyrant, a man into a beast, is to give him power over his fellows.