Defiance of Authority Quotes

Texans and independent voters like to vote for somebody who is going to buck the status quo, and isn't going to do as he is told.

If you are not their slaves, you are rebels.

I hold it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms are in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people, which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions, as not to discourage them too much. It is medicine necessary for the sound health of government.

The most seditious is the most cowardly.

Insubordination may only be the evidence of a strong mind.

When you create something new, you're breaking tradition - which is an act of defiance.

I was a rebel. I went to Carmel Convent in Delhi where I was a complete rebel. I thought I was 12 going on 18. I wanted to go out with friends older to me, stay out late - my parents were horrified. It was then that we began having our first disagreements.

Resist much, obey little.

Just make sure your children hate authority and they'll do fine.

Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders . . . . and millions have been killed because of this obedience . . . .

It was, 'If you don't do 'The Show Goes On,' your album's not coming out.' I had nothing to do with that record - nothing. I was literally told how I should rap on it. But I'm a bastard, 'cos I'll turn around and put it back in your face.

Things like rebellion and resistance to authority are absolutely as much a part of the human experience as love and cars are, and it's a part that doesn't get covered very much in pop music.

I wanted to be a rebel so badly.

There was something punk rock about Bobby Kennedy not going where the pollsters said or where consultants said. He was unmoored from what was safe or easy.

So that this nation may long endure, I urge you to follow in the hallowed footsteps of the great disobedience of history that freed exiles, founded religions, defeated tyrants, and yes, in the hands of an aroused rabble in arms and a few great men

DISOBEDIENCE, n. The silver lining to the cloud of servitude.

Condemn me, it does not matter: history will absolve me.

Supposed I don't want to redeem myself? Why should I fight to uphold the system that cast me out? I shall take pleasure in seeing it smashed.

I'm not going to stop painting just to take orders.

The greatest enemy of authority, therefore, is contempt, and the surest way to undermine it is laughter.

I have never listened to authority. It is not in my DNA.

I wasn't expelled for anything vicious, just being cheeky, not doing what I was told, answering back, and always rising to the bait if someone said something annoying about my dad.

In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.

I was very head-strong, and this was the Vietnam War era - You did not listen to your parents or other authority figures. You didn't share their values. No one did in my circle. It was OK to rebel.