Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [1001-1020] of 1246 Power quotesPower QuotesPower Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes The more power a government has, the more it can act arbitrarily according to the whims and desires of the elite and murder its foreign and domestic subjects. The more constrained the power of governments, the more power is diffused, checked and balanced, the less it will aggress on others and commit democide. ... In total, during the first eighty-eight years of this century, almost 170 million men, women, and children have been shot, beaten, tortured, knifed, burned, starved, frozen, crushed, or worked to death; buried alive, drowned, hung, bombed, or killed in any other of the myriad ways governments have inflicted death on unarmed, helpless citizens and foreigners. The dead could conceivably be nearly 360 million people. It is as though our species has been devastated by a modern Black Plague. And indeed it has, but a plague of Power, not of germs.~ Rudolph J. Rummel Political scientists almost everywhere have promoted the expansion of government power. They have functioned as the clergy of oppression.~ Rudolph J. Rummel Nobody can be trusted with unlimited power. The more power a regime has, the more likely people will be killed. This is a major reason for promoting freedom.~ Rudolph J. Rummel What will follow will not be a repeat of any other conflict. It will be of a force and scope and scale that has been beyond what has been seen before.~ Donald Rumsfeld There is no wealth but life.~ John Ruskin If we were all given by magic the power to read each other's thoughts, I suppose the first effect would be to dissolve all friendships.~ Bertrand Russell These men - ..., the politicians, ... - use their position, their knowledge, and their power of disseminating misinformation to arouse and stimulate the latent instinct for bloodshed. When they have succeeded, they say they are reluctantly forced to war by the pressure of public opinion.~ Bertrand Russell Next to enjoying ourselves, the next greatest pleasure consists in preventing others from enjoying themselves, or, more generally, in the acquisition of power. Consequently those who live under the dominion of Puritanism become exceedingly desirous of power. Now love of power does far more harm than love of drink or any of the other vices against which Puritans protest. Of course, in virtuous people love of power camouflages itself as love of doing good, but this makes very little difference to its social effects. It merely means that we punish our victims for being wicked, instead of for being our enemies. In either case, tyranny and war result. Moral indignation is one of the most harmful forces in the modern world, the more so as it can always be diverted to sinister uses by those who control propaganda.~ Bertrand Russell Man has existed for about a million years. He has possessed writing for about 6,000 years, agriculture somewhat longer, but perhaps not much longer. Science, as a dominant factor in determining the belief of educated men, has existed for about 300 years; as a source of economic technique, for about 150 years. In this brief period it has proved itself an incredibly powerful revolutionary force. When we consider how recently it has risen to power, we find ourselves forced to believe that we are at the very beginning of its work in transforming human life.~ Bertrand Russell The earth becomes more crowded, and our dependence upon our neighbours becomes more intimate. In these circumstances life cannot remain tolerable unless we learn to let each other alone in all matters that are not of immediate and obvious concern to the community. We must learn to respect each other's privacy, and not to impose our moral standards upon each other. The Puritan imagines that his moral standard is the moral standard; he does not realize that other ages and other countries, and even other groups in his own country, have moral standards different from his, to which they have as good a right as he has to his. Unfortunately, the love of power which is the natural outcome of Puritan self-denial makes the Puritan more executive than other people, and makes it difficult for others to resist him. Let us hope that a broader education and a wider knowledge of mankind may gradually weaken the ardour of our too virtuous masters.~ Bertrand Russell From the standpoint of stable political conditions, it is perhaps well that Hitler is now in a position to wield unprecedented power.~ Frederic Sackett True, it is evil that a single man should crush the herd, but see not there the worse form of slavery, which is when the herd crushes out the man.~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry European merchants supply the best weaponry, contributing to their own defeat.~ Saladin A government which will turn its tanks upon its people, for any reason, is a government with a taste of blood and a thirst for power and must either be smartly rebuked, or blindly obeyed in deadly fear.~ John Salter By a Declaration, Liberty is born. With Courage she is nourished, and with unceasing Commitment she is guarded.~ Eric Schaub The 'strength' of the People becomes weak when we don't 'exercise' our rights.~ Eric Schaub I am not free until I say so. And there's a good chance I am going to have to fight once I do. Ever since I declared my Independence, I have had to support and defend it.~ Eric Schaub Can we truly expect those who aim to exploit us to be trusted to educate us?~ Eric Schaub Among the mighty are those who recognize beauty as power, and power as beautiful.~ Eric Schaub It's worth what it's worth when it's worth it.~ Eric Schaub Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print