Ambrose Bierce Quotes

Fear has always been the driving force behind all dictators' repression.

All executive power --- from the reign of ancient kings to the rule of modern dictators --- has the outward appearance of efficiency

Citizens, we have reason to fear that the Revolution, like Saturn, will successively devour all its children, and only produce despotism and the calamities which accompany it.

I go still further and affirm, that, supposing even a nation had been really willing to grant their sovereign an arbitrary and unlimited power, this concession would of itself be void and of no effect.

Rule with an iron first will inevitably come to an end.

… we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.

At times it is necessary for a country to have, for a time, some form or other of dictatorial power..

Absolute power is absolute power, no matter what it's called.

Fear must rule in a despotism.

There is no King, who, with sufficient force, is not always ready to make himself absolute.

As virtue is necessary in a republic, and honor in a monarchy, fear is what is required in a despotism. As for virtue, it is not at all necessary, and honor would be dangerous there.

The chief evil is unlimited government, and nobody is qualified to wield unlimited power.

You are the ruler of a kingdom, and whatever you think and feel becomes the law of your kingdom -- the law within your body.

You use force, you create fear. Fear destroys trust. Trust is the basis of harmony. The hardliner believes harmony and unity can be brought by force. That's totally unscientific, totally wrong.

Enlightened despots are mythical creatures; real despots seem more interested in stealing money or installing their sons after them.

The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance.

Brutal men with unlimited power are the same all over the world.

Mobs and dictators were made for each other, and when mobs appear, dictators will soon flourish.

The benevolent despot who sees himself as a shepherd of the people still demands of others the submissiveness of sheep.

One Hundred and Seventy Three Despots would surely be as oppressive as one.

... timid men who prefer the calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty.

The Shah is a nut!

It is a favorite maxim of despotick power, that mankind are not made to govern themselves.

The revolutionary government is the despotism of liberty

The political lives of tyrants play out human affairs with a special intensity: the death of a democratic leader long after his retirement is a private matter, but the death of a tyrant is always a political act that reflects the character of his power.