Robert McFarlane Quotes

We are defined by how we use our power.

It takes tremendous discipline to control the influence, the power you have over other people's lives.

I am the guardian of power, not its owner.

In the end, as a leader, you are always going to get a combination of two things: what you create and what you allow.

Certainly I shall not be one of those who, having gained power, do not wish to use it.

The person who manages the state is me.

It is a great matter to be in authority over others; for authority, if it be rightly used, will make you feared beyond your actual resources.

Power should be reserved for weightlifting and boats, and leadership really involves responsibility.

Power without abuse loses its charm.

Not my power, but the power of the position, a power which could be used to help.

Power has to be insecure to be responsive.

Power tires only those who do not have it.

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.

Every one, more or less, loves Power, yet those who most wish for it are seldom the fittest to be trusted with it.

Governance is a way of organizing, amplifying, and constraining power.

Wealth and power don't go together. Power cannot be brokered. To me, power is responsibility.

You know, one of the things I think you understand as president is you're held responsible for everything, but you don't always have control of everything, right?

Those who enjoy responsibility usually get it; those who merely like exercising authority usually lose it.

Authority must be respected and chosen wisely.

The key things are about power and about growing up and realizing as you grow up that there are consequences for the choices you make, especially when you get seduced by power.

In a very real way, ownership is the essence of leadership. When you are 'ridiculously in charge,' then you own whatever happens in a company, school, et cetera.

What the proprietorship of these papers is aiming at is power, and power without responsibility—the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages.

I’ve never formally been number 1 in the Party, but everybody keeps hanging around me, showing me deference. I have to give the nod on every important decision. I carry too much weight and that is not good for the Party or the state.

Even when you’re in charge, you’re not sure who’s in charge.

Some call it power; I prefer to call it responsibility.