Jurgen Habermas Quotes

Rulers who prefer popular opinion to truth have as much power as robbers in the desert.

At one time kings were anointed by Deity, so the problem was to see to it that Deity chose the right candidate. In this age the myth is "the will of the people" ... but the problem changes only superficially.

Those who say they give the public what it wants begin by underestimating public taste and end by debauching it.

What acquaintance have the people at large with the arena of political rectitude, with the connections of kingdoms, the resources of national strength, the abilities of ministers, or even with their own dispositions?...I pay no regard whatever to the voice of the people: it is their duty to do what is proper, without considering what may be agreeable.

Legitimacy is the elixir of political power.

When you vote, you are exercising political authority, you're using force. And force, my friends, is violence. The supreme authority from which all other authorities are derived.

The competition of social power with State power is always disadvantaged, since the State can arrange the terms of competition to suit itself, even to the point of outlawing any exercise of social power whatever in the premises; in other words, giving itself a monopoly.

Nature rejects the monarch, not the man; the subject, not the citizen... The man of virtuous soul commands not, nor obeys.

It is on opinion only that government is founded; and this maxim extends to the most despotic and most military governments, as well as to the most free and most popular.

Power is fortified not just by what it destroys, but also by what it creates. Not just by what it takes, but also by what it gives. And powerlessness reaffirmed not just by the helplessness of those who have lost, but also by the gratitude of those who have (or think they have) gained.

Freedom was given to humanity by God. But, governments, if they can help it, never give freedom. They just hand out slavery with slogans.

Where there is no common power, there is no law

So in everything: power lies with those who control finance, not with those who know the matter upon which the money is to be spent. Thus, the holders of power are, in general, ignorant and malevolent, and the less they exercise their power the better.

Public opinion sets bounds to every government, and is the real sovereign in every free one.

Political organizations are formed to keep the powerful in power.

When we attempt to exercise power or control over someone else, we cannot avoid giving that person the very same power or control over us.

The will of the people shall be the law of the land

The less the power, the greater the desire to exercise it.

It is the Press which has corrupted our political morals - and it is to the Press we must look for the means of our political regeneration.

Aside from battles, the history of nations seemed to consist of nothing but powerless old poops like myself, heavily medicated and vaguely beloved in the long ago, coming to kiss the boots of young psychopaths.

A lot of what is called 'public service' consists of making hoops for other people to jump through. It is a great career for those who cannot feel fulfilled unless they are telling other people what to do.

The things they don't tell you in schools these days, geez. Have a look at your owners. The politicians are put there to give you the idea you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have no choice; you have owners. They own you. They own everything.

That cruelest of tyrants - public opinion.

Harassment is about power---the undue exercise of power by a superior over a subordinate.

Politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don't.