Denis Diderot Quotes

The exercise of authority is odious, and they who know how to govern, leave it in abeyance as much as possible.

No man has received from nature the right to command his fellow human beings.

Nature rejects the monarch, not the man; The subject, not the citizen; for kings And subjects, mutual foes, forever play A losing game into each other's hands, Whose stakes are vice and misery. The man Of virtuous soul commands not, nor obeys.

Power never turns power down, ever, unless institutionally demanded.

It is better to be subject to the Laws under one Master, than to be subservient to many.

They must be governed by and be subordinate to you.

The silence of peoples is something kings should study.

Nature according to God's will created some people to follow, and some to lead

My relationship to power and authority is that I'm all for it...People need somebody to watch over them.... Ninety-five percent of the people in the world need to be told what to do and how to behave.

Force works on servile natures, not the free.

He that cannot obey, cannot command.

Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.

Authority is not a quality one person 'has', in the sense that he has property or physical qualities. Authority refers to an interpersonal relation in which one person looks upon another as somebody superior to him.

Learn to obey before you command.

I think I'm a natural-born leader. I know how to bow down to authority if it's authority that I respect.

I like control.

I like to be in control of things.

Don't talk to me about rules, dear. Wherever I stay I make the goddam rules.

Unless one is inordinately fond of subordination, one is always at war.

I don't mind how much my Ministers talk, so long as they do what I say.

There have been in this century only one great man and one great thing: Napoleon and liberty. For want of the great man, let us have the great thing.

It is much safer to obey than to rule.

If you've experienced having control, you don't want to be moved to a subordinate position, if you have your druthers.

I would not like a king who could obey.

I’m the constitution around here now.