Charles I Quotes

A good deal of tyranny goes by the name of protection.

Power over others is weakness disguised as strength.

The less people know about what is going on, the easier it is to wield power and authority.

Power is domination, control, and therefore a very selective form of truth which is a lie.

Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.

A suppressing person isn't critical. A suppressing person is a person who denies the rights of others.

It is by its promise of a sense of power that evil often attracts the weak.

Flattery was one of Kissinger's principal tools in winning over Nixon, and a tool he employed shamelessly.

The ruling idea of the politician - stated rather bluntly - is that those who are opposed to him exist for the purpose of being made to serve his ends, if he can get power enough in his hands to force these ends upon them.

Powerlessness also corrupts.

I have never been able to conceive how any rational being could propose happiness to himself from the exercise of power over others.

… the tools of despotism and corruption

Deals, flattery, threats and promises are part of the process, certainly; do not flinch from any opportunity to scheme and plot, however sordid and demeaning it may appear.

No man ever ruled other men for their own good.

Ambition fortifies the will of man to become ruler over other men: it operates with deception, cajolery, and violence, it is the action of impurity upon impurity.

People who are divided are easier to control.

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

I don't need handcuffs to enslave a woman.

Man is always exploited through fear.

You keep folks so intimidated. You can give them money, access, but they're still scared. And as long as you're scared, you're on the plantation.

Structures can be manipulated for ill as well, especially when people are dealing with issues of power, or control, or violence.

Next to enjoying ourselves, the next greatest pleasure consists in preventing others from enjoying themselves, or, more generally, in the acquisition of power.

Repression is fantastic.

The most important thing about power is to make sure you don't have to use it.

I call the discourse of power any discourse that engenders blame, hence guilt, in its recipient.