Stacy Schiff Quotes

I really don't remember much about Cleopatra. There were a lot of other things going on.

Cleopatra was on a political mission to save her country and her power, but what we remember about her are these two famed seductions, which are a matter of politics, not a matter of love.

We're talking about, essentially, the Roman historians, who wrote Cleopatra into the story mostly so that they could talk about the rise of Rome. And that is one of the problems, of course, in recounting her life. She's only ever apparent to us when there is a Roman in the room, or when her story intersects with the rise of Rome.

Here you have an incredibly ambitious, accomplished woman who comes up against some of the same problems that women in power come up against today. Cleopatra plays an oddly pivotal role in world history as well; in her lifetime, Alexandria is the center of the universe, Rome is still a backwater.

Power is more satisfying to some than wealth.... Power is, indeed, a heady thing—whether it be a King, a President, a Legislature, a Court, or an Administration agency that is concerned.

I decided I was going to play Cleopatra as someone with a brain. She's kept Egypt, this tiny country, in a balance of power with the almighty Roman empire, and she's done it through force of personality.

Cleopatra is one of the roles that I would love to do!

It's not about money. The money will flow. It's about power and influence.

Of what real value is a title? The power is the only important thing

Power: a currency that never went out of style.

Rulership is in our genes, dominion is in our makeup. We were designed to rule the earth.

It is easy to rule over the good.

Power is the flower of organization.

My relationship to power and authority is that I'm all for it.

The desire to order other people around and make them conform to one own's vision takes many forms.

It is no bad thing to be a king-to see one's house enriched and one's authority enhanced.

Thou must (in commanding and winning, or serving and losing, suffering or triumphing) be either anvil or hammer.

It's good to be the king.

Obtain power, then, by all means; power is the law of man; make it yours.

What is the cause of historical events? Power. What is power? Power is the sum total of wills transferred to one person. On what condition are the willso fo the masses transferred to one person? On condition that the person express the will of the whole people. That is, power is power. That is, power is a word the meaning of which we do not understand.

When Tarquin the Proud was asked what was the best mode of governing a conquered city, he replied only by beating down with his staff all the tallest poppies in his garden.

Power educates the potentate.

Ambitious princes value inherited kingdoms not so much as conquered provinces.

We run things, things don't run we.