Sarah Vowell Quotes

A big man has no time really to do anything but just sit and be big.

Wealth and power don't go together. Power cannot be brokered. To me, power is responsibility.

To be vested with enormous authority is a fine thing; but to have the on-looking world consent to it is a finer.

Many people around the President have sizeable egos before entering government, some with good reason. Their new positions will do little to moderate their egos.

If you're powerful, you are much more likely to be blind and deaf to signals from outside.

I was allowed to ring the bell for five minutes until everyone was in assembly. It was the beginning of power.

Being a role model is a privilege.

To be honest, the fact that people trust you gives you a lot of power over people. Having another person's trust is more powerful than all other management techniques put together.

Every one, more or less, loves Power, yet those who most wish for it are seldom the fittest to be trusted with it.

At least she's the president of something, which is more than I can say.

When you meet powerful men or just read about them in the newspapers, you see that they don't have a sense of boundaries.

Authority must be respected and chosen wisely.

Leadership is something you earn, something you're chosen for. You can't come in yelling, 'I'm your leader!' If it happens, it's because the other guys respect you.

The vices of kings cannot remain hidden, for the splendor of their lofty station permits naught to be concealed.

I have sat at the sumptuous table of power, but I have not run away with the silverware.

Whether it's a blessing or a curse, it's a fact that we have power. Everyone—friend and enemy—looks to see how we use it, how we treat it, how we keep it.

You must be a power on earth, and must therefore accept all the consequences of this position

I found early on that having a position of power really doesn't bring the fulfillment that many people think it does.

I'm privileged to occasionally stand on a table, and people listen to what I say, and in those moments, it's important to me that I have something to say and that I honor it.

The prime minister's office is not something that one enjoys.

We should understand the source of our authority and something of the keys that control its power.

Let me make one thing clear. I have never considered mere survival in power as any achievement, just as I have never seen coming to power as an achievement in itself.

Leadership is not rank, privileges, title or money. It is responsibility.

No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?

If one meets a powerful person--Adolf Hitler, Joe Stalin or Bill Gates--ask them five questions: "What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And how can we get rid of you?