William Hazlitt Quotes

Wild beasts hate nets, and people hate their superiors.

The path of freedom is blocked much more by those who wish to obey than by those who wish to command.

The silence of peoples is something kings should study.

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.

When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find that far more, and far more hideous, crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion.

Whether it comes from a despotic sovereign or an elected president, from a murderous general or a beloved leader, I see power as an inhuman and hateful phenomen. To the same degree that I do not understand power, I do understand those who oppose power, who criticize power, who contest power, especially those who rebel against power imposed by brutality.

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

I'm fed up with being bossed around.

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

Authority is never without hate.

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

And I particularly like the whole thing of being boss. Boss and employee... It's the slave quality that I find very alluring.

Fear is the foundation of most governments.

Sometimes I think the world is divided into those who have a comfortable relationship with power and those who have a naturally adversarial relationship with power.

Power acquired by violence is only a usurpation, and lasts only as long as the force of him who commands prevails over that of those who obey.

He who surpasses or subdues mankind, must look down on the hate of those below.

Authority figures are so irritating. Because they always tell you to do things for reasons that aren't very good. That sums up what authority is about for me.

I would not like a king who could obey.

He who demands does not command.

Wherever there is a man who exercises authority, there is a man who resists authority!

If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.

I always remember I'm the monkey and he's the organ-grinder.

He was in charge of everything and I was to be wherever he wasn’t.

The people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it.