Eric Hoffer Quotes

The word power has such a generally negative implication in our society. What are people talking about? Are they talking about muscles, or control?

Power is a complicated word and can take many forms.

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

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.

It's probably a bit of a power trip when you befriend somebody enough that they trust you to tell you things.

I grew up thinking anything was possible simply because of seeing women in power - like, you know, running the country. Which is a thought that continues to give Americans indigestion... Direction is about having a vision, but the practice of being a director is a con game - a confidence game.

Well, when you look at a lot of science fiction novels they're asking questions about power. There are questions about what it means to have power and what are the long-term consequences of power.

The fundamental concept in social science is Power, in the same sense in which Energy is the fundamental concept in physics.

The way to have power is to take it.

Power is not just political. It can be cultural; it can be spiritual.

We kind of agree with Mao that political power comes largely from the barrel of a gun. And we get it that if you want a friend you should get a dog.

I'm interested in power.

Power is not an institution, and not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with; it is the name that one attributes to a complex strategical situation in a particular society.

It's possible for people to gain control of every facet of your life.

There are no living beings who exert more power over others, pound for pound, than tiny babies and extremely thin moguls.

Powerlessness corrupts: absolute powerlessness corrupts absolutely

There are two fairly standard approaches to political power used by those who seek it. Some seek power with the assumption that the citizenry are the source of legitimacy and are to be treated with respect. Others concentrate on identifying whatever insecurities there are within the citizenry and on exploiting them.'

All political questions, all matters of right, are at bottom only questions of might.

Politics is about power, and it is about group power.

I have only to raise a finger and the whole face of Europe is changed.

I do understand power, whatever else may be said about me. I know where to look for it and how to use it.

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

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

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