Fouad Ajami Quotes

Despotism isn't nearly as bad as it's cracked up to be.

One Hundred and Seventy Three Despots would surely be as oppressive as one.

Rule with an iron first will inevitably come to an end.

Colonel Qaddafi's tyranny was absolutist, monarchical, and personal. The problem with such dictatorships is that as long as the tyrant lives, he reigns and terrorizes.

The chains of military despotism, once fastened upon a nation, ages might pass away before they could be shaken off.

The more complete the despotism, the more smoothly all things move on the surface.

It's time to bury the unreal, failed 'realism' of those who have long thought that dictators brought stability.

The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance.

Every dictator is an enemy of freedom, an opponent of law.

All executive power --- from the reign of ancient kings to the rule of modern dictators --- has the outward appearance of efficiency

Dictatorship: A system of government where everything that isn't forbidden is obligatory.

The more a regime claims to be the embodiment of liberty the more tyrannical it is likely to be.

In domestic as in political tyranny, the case of absolute monsters chiefly illustrates the institution by showing that there is scarcely any horror which may not occur under it if the despot pleases

To trample democracy with one’s feet and to give power to a single man over almost eighty million people is so terrible that one can very probably tremble over the events which will come here.

if despotism were to be established amongst the democratic nations of our days it might assume a different character; it would be more extensive and more mild, it would degrade men without tormenting them.

… we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.

Every dictatorship creates thousands of smaller dictators who live on for decades.

Spineless politics do not change the mind of a tyrant.

I believe Donald Trump is a bona fide authoritarian. I am deeply concerned that if he were president of the United States, he would act accordingly.

Authoritarianism doesn't fall on a nation like a book falling from a shelf and striking you in the head. It rolls in like a slow tide.

Fear must rule in a despotism.

Fear has always been the driving force behind all dictators' repression.

Despotism increases in severity with the number of despots; the responsibility is more divided, and the claims are more numerous.

Tyranny is always better organized than freedom.

A collective tyrant, spread over the length and breadth of the land, is no more acceptable than a single tyrant ensconced on his throne.