Voltaire Quotes

When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions.

When a wrong thought is told a thousand times and impressed on one’s brain, one starts feeling the falsehood as truth. Similarly if the mind of slave is hammered of slavery, he starts enjoying his slavery

We lead them to believe that we are in complete control over every aspect of their lives.

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

The concept of power we admire is power over someone else.

Nobody will admit to playing power games in relationships, but they do.

And this is the Anarchistic definition of the State: the embodiment of the principle of invasion in an individual, or a band of individuals, assuming to act as representatives or masters of the entire people within a given area.

One can resist the invasion of an army but one cannot resist the invasion of ideas.

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

Coercion is the basis of every law in the universe.

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

MKULTRA

Force, no matter how concealed, begets resistance.

There is no subjugation so perfect as that which keeps the appearance of freedom, for in that way one captures volition itself.

Those who fear men like laws.

If those in charge of our society – politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television – can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves.

Bureaucracy is ever desirous of spreading its influence and its power. You cannot extend the mastery of the government over the daily working life of a people without at the same time making it the master of the people's souls and thoughts.

The effect of dominance is not always the result of an intention to dominate.

People who are divided are easier to control.

To repress rebellion is to maintain the status quo, a condition which binds the mortal creature in a state of intellectual or physical slavery. But it is impossible to chain man merely by slaving his body; the mind also must be held, and to accomplish this, fear is the accepted weapon. The common man must fear life, fear death, fear God, fear the Devil, and fear most the overlords, the keepers of his destiny.

The thoughts he put in her head. Someone should’ve arrested him for it.

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.

Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.

The most effective way to close down the human mind and to manipulate its sense of self is to program into it some form of dogma. A dogma will always vehemently defend itself from other information and repel any alternative opinion which contradicts its narrow, solidified view. Dogmas become a person's sense of security and means of retaining power, and humanity tends to cling to both until its knuckles turn white. Dogmas take endless forms, and when you can persuade different people to hold opposing dogmas, the manipulation of conflict and control through "divide and rule" becomes easy.

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