Bob Greene Quotes

Politics. The art of governing mankind by deceiving them.

Appearances are not reality; but they often can be a convincing alternative to it. You can control appearances most of the time, but facts are what they are. When the facts are too sharp, you can craft a cheerful version of the situation and cover the facts the way that you can covered a battered old four-slice toaster with a knitted cozy featuring images of kittens.

Intelligence can be used to manipulate.

I'm Machiavelli's offspring, I'm the king of New York, king of the coast, one hand, I juggle them both.

The magician and the politician have much in common: they both have to draw our attention away from what they are really doing.

The wise become as the unwise in the enchanted chambers of Power, whose lamps make every face the same colour.

Politics is the art of controlling your environment.

Tactics are manipulative.

One must do things in such a way that people believe that they want it to be done this way.

As pitilessly as force annihilates, equally without pity … intoxicates those who possess or believe they possess it. In reality, no one possesses it.

Politics is the art of making the people believe that they are in power, when in fact, they have none.

I'm very good at manipulation.

Pretend to be completely in control and people will assume that you are.

Deception is a developed art of civilization and the most potent weapon in the game of power

The greatest triumphs of propoganda have been accomplished, not by doing something, but by refraining from doing. Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth.

Sometimes terror and pain are not the best levers; deception, when it works, is the most elegant and the least expensive manipulation of all.

He who holds the hook is aware in what waters many fish are swimming.

It's often said that leadership is the art of getting people to do what you want, and making them think it's what they want. This captures a lot of what Abraham Lincoln did.

Power is not sufficient evidence of truth.

When a magician lets you notice something on your own, his lie becomes impenetrable.

When it comes to controlling human beings, there is no better instrument than lies. Because you see, humans live by beliefs. And beliefs can be manipulated. The power to manipulate beliefs is the only thing that counts.

I've come to learn that the determined and gifted and genuine sociopath has far more power to deceive than we realize.

Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they've told you what you think it is you want to hear.

To be honest, the fact that people trust you gives you a lot of power over people. Having another person's trust is more powerful than all other management techniques put together.

Silence is the ultimate weapon of power.