Orson Scott Card Quotes

Social control is best managed through fear.

Power over a man's support is a power over his will.

You are controlling because I want you to do it, not because of the situation or what needs to be done.

The art of being a slave is to rule one's master.

Fear is something I instill in other people, mostly young girls.

Even a faithful mistress can be bent by constant threats.

If I get ‘em by the short and curlies, the hearts and minds will follow.

The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it.

I know you are a rich and great king. You have plenty of soldiers and govern a big country yourself. Therefore it is difficult for you to subject yourself to me voluntarily. Still, it would be better if you swore fealty to me … You who live in houses, who have castles and towns, how will you escape me?

Once a person insists on how you are to think he immediately begins to insist on how you are to behave.

You must labor until we have dominion over the minds and bodies of every important person in your nation.

If you've got 'em by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.

The more pain you inflict on someone, the more they will tell you what they think you want to hear.

He intimidated me. When Lyndon Johnson would call on the phone, I would perspire. He knew how to intimidate you and liked it.

The fear tactic is a tactic that's used by people who want to maintain control, and it's very effective.

When you can no longer elucidate the ideas, or when they are too damaging to openly acknowledge, all you can do is simply make threats, demand loyalty.

The classic problem in a relationship is a person trying to control the other person. People just want to conquer somebody.

You're a Good Little Slave

When one by force subdues men, they do not submit to him in heart. They submit because their strength is not adequate to resist.

You can maintain power over people, as long as you give them something. Rob a man of everything, and that man will no longer be in your power.

Authority, as you usually think of it, is merely the excuse the strong use to make others conform to what they want.

Man is always exploited through fear.

Power not only corrupts he who wields the power but those who submit to it. Those who grovel at the feet of power betray their fellows to hide themselves behind the cloak of submission. It is an evil thing.

A portion of the multitude must ever be coerced.

Safer to be feared than loved.