Major Owens Quotes
You have no power at all if you do not exercise constant power.
Owens, Major. Interviewed by Fred Pelka. What We Have Done: An Oral History of the Disability Rights Movement, by Fred Pelka, University of Massachusetts Press, 2012.
In a variant of Lord Acton’s famous quotation {292904} Caro focused on what people did with power once they had achieved it. This, he believed, revealed character.
Mytilene was at war with Athens. Pittacus suggested that instead of the armies fighting, the war should be decided by a battle between him and the Athenian General who accepted. Pittacus won and was the Ruler of Athens, where he became quite popular. He wrote all his laws and decrees in poetry. He resigned after 10 years. He was considered one of the 7 great Greek Sages.
Major Robert Odell Owens was an American politician and librarian who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2007, representing the New York's 11th and then 12th Congressional district. He was first elected to replace retiring Representative Shirley Chisholm. Owens shepherded the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 through the House. He retired at the end of his term in January 2007 and was succeeded by Yvette Clarke.
