John Galt Quotes

A ruler must learn to persuade and not to compel.

To govern is to choose. To appear to be unable to choose is to appear to be unable to govern.

A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.

Power has to be insecure to be responsive.

The best people to have power are the ones who don't want it.

Where might is mixed with wit, there is too good an accord in a government.

Rulers come and go; governments end and forms of government change; but sovereignty survives.

A political society cannot endure without a supreme will somewhere.

Washington has political power combined with the insider illusion of being in control.

A ruler must learn to be other than good.

Conquering the world on horseback is easy; it is dismounting and governing that is hard.

A new reign is always a time of hope; everybody is disposed to see something for his own wishes and prospects. The policy of a new Sovereign must therefore be to act in such a manner as to hurt as little as possible the amour-propre [public love] of people, to let circumstances and the force of things bring about the disappointments which no human power could prevent coming sooner or later…

What is government but an arrangement by which the many accept the authority of the few?

A statesman gains little by the arbitrary exercise of ironclad authority upon all occasions that offer, for this wounds the just pride of his subordinates, and thus tends to undermine his strength. A little concession, now and then, where it can do no harm is the wiser policy

Politics and strategy are one.

To govern mankind, one must not overrate them.

Once you've built the big machinery of political power, remember you won't always be the one to run it.

A wise ruler takes advice, but should never be seen to take it. Let them think you know more than you do. It will not harm them, and it will help you.

In order to obtain and hold power, a man must love it.

Any government will work if authority and responsibility are equal and coordinate. This does not insure “good” government, it simply insures that it will work. But such governments are rare — most people want to run things, but want no part of the blame. This used to be called the “backseat driver” syndrome.

I think the policy makers like the idea of being the boss. I mean people who like to boss other people around like to go into politics so they can become the boss.

As soon as politicians start climbing up the ladder, they suddenly become kings. I don't know how it works, but what I do know is that republics came to the world to make sure that no one is more than anyone else. The pomp of office is like something left over from a feudal past: "You need a palace, red carpet, a lot of people behind you saying, 'Yes, sir.' I think all of that is awful."

Those who have ruled human destinies, like planets, for thousands of years, were not handsome men.

From this arises the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both: but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.

Putin is no different than any other powerful man, like a Senator, or a President.