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Power

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“Although (the one reactor at Kuosheng Nuclear Power Plant) is not considered part of the operating reserve, I would make a formal report to the Legislative Yuan to reactivate it as a last resort in the event of a predictable power shortage. The manufacturing industry should have confidence in the (Taiwan) power supply.”
Lin Chuan (born 1951) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lin Chuan (2017) cited in "Nuclear power an emergency option: Lin" on Taipei Times, 29 August 2017.
“In a totalitarian state, the purpose of politics is power and power alone. The "nation" and its peoples are mentioned only to give an air of legitimacy to the application of power. The people accept this devalued existence, asking only to live from day to day.”
Liu Xiaobo (1955–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whereas in democratic countries the businessman may use his money to influence legislation and public opinion and thus operated as a source of power and corruption, in fascist countries he can exist only as the subject upon whom State power operates. The corruption in fascist arises inevitably from the reversal of the role of the capitalist and the State as wielders of economic power.”
Günter Reimann (1904–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nature, in providing us with combustibles on all sides, has given us the power to produce, at all times and in all places, heat and the impelling power which is the result of it. To develop this power, to appropriate it to our uses, is the object of heat-engines.”
Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot (1796–1832) said by 1832 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The book cannot be called, as some say, “a written evidence of the mind and character of Hitler and his henchmen,” for at the time of writing Hitler was seeking power, and once having gained this power it becomes the old story of the oppressed gaining power, becoming the oppressor, a fact that runs through history with a persistency of man’s claims to “natural rights.”
Virgil John Tangborn (1920–1944) said by 1944 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A may exercise power over B by getting him to do what he does not want to do, in quick succession, but he may also exercise power over him by shaping or determining his very wants. Indeed, is it not the supreme exercise of power to get another or others to have the desires you want them to have – that is, to secure their compliance by controlling their thoughts and desires?”
Steven Lukes (born 1941) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Power: A Radical View (1974)
“The less freedom people have the more violence, the more freedom the less violence. I put this here as the Power Principle: power kills, absolute power kills absolutely.”
Rudolph Rummel (1932–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Power, for those without the means of commanding others, is frustration. The existence of power-to as power-over means that the vast majority of doers are converted into the done-to, their activity transformed into passivity, their subjectivity into objectivity.”
John Holloway (sociologist) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Liberalism was a plant which did not thrive in stagnant waters, and the waters of London, to their shame be it spoken, were stagnant. Where there was a want of active zeal all the worse and baser instincts which had power in politics told against the Liberal party. The money power was against the Liberal party, and so was the liquor power.”
James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce (1838–1922) first seen 1887 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the London Liberal and Radical Union at St. James's-hall (11 January 1887), quoted in The Times (12 January 1887), p. 7
“[D]escribed the worship of power as "the new religion in Europe." Anti-Americanism, predicated in part on fascism's mirror image, the revilement of power–especially when that power is somebody else's–answers many of the fundamental needs once filled by the Church. There is a transcendant and common goal.”
Claire Berlinski (born 1968) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Menace in Europe: Why the Continent's Crisis is America's, Too (2006), Crown Forum, p. 10
“People in power remind me of people who find themselves in a room with windows and doors, where a huge number of microbes are flying. Sooner or later, the people in power deteriorate, simply because immunity is lost over time, and at some point you get infected with something. Elections and independent press are nothing more than opening those windows and airing the "corridors of power.”
Boris Nemtsov (1959–2015) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview in Nizhny Novgorod's local government magazine (January 1995)
“In the spirit of the Eightfold Path of Buddha, with its injunctions about Right Livelihood, Right Speech, and so on, we might also think in terms of Right Power—power used not as a battering ram or to glorify the ego but in service to life. Appropriate power. p.190”
Marilyn Ferguson (1938–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“History is the fruit of power, but power itself is never so transparent that its analysis becomes superfluous. The ultimate mark of power may be its invisibility; the ultimate challenge, the exposition of its roots.”
Michel-Rolph Trouillot (1949–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our lack of power and our oppression are one and the same, Inan. Without power we’re maggots. Without power the monarchy treats us like scum!”
Tomi Adeyemi (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Cultural products that present people who have no money or power as innately stupid or depraved, and thus unworthy of money or power, are in the interests of the ruling class and the power structure as it stands.”
Meredith Tax (1942–2022) said by 2022 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I ask... What would they do if every nation had unlimited electrical power-power for the taking-power costing nothing to obtain and available to all men equally?”
Desmond Leslie (1921–2001) said by 2001 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Power is more 'spacious' than violence. And violence becomes power if it 'gives itself more time.' Looked at from this perspective, power rests on an excess of space and time.”
Byung-Chul Han (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We persist in regarding ourselves as a great power, capable of everything and only temporarily handicapped by economic difficulties. We are not a great power and never will be again. We are a great nation, but if we continue to behave like a great power we shall soon cease to be a great nation.”
Henry Tizard (1885–1959) first seen 1949 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Memo written as Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Ministry of Defence (1949)
“The Ministry of Economic Affairs calls for the swift construction of the (Taiwan's) third LNG terminal (in Taoyuan) to reduce the amount of coal burned. Gas from the third LNG terminal would fulfill the power needs of 10 million Taiwanese and close the power gap in the north of Taiwan. This would allow us to generate power where it is used, lowering systemic risk.”
Wang Mei-hua (born 1958) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Wang Mei-hua (2021) cited in "Taoyuan LNG terminal ‘key to energy plan’" on Taipei Times, 18 March 2021
“In the event of a failure of another significant (power) source (in Poland), it (Młoty Pumped-Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant) will protect the system against possible shortages in the power system. Meanwhile, the reservoir created for water storage will also perform retention and recreational functions, thereby contributing to the development of the Kłodzko Valley in which it is located.”
Michał Dworczyk (born 1975) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Michał Dworczyk (2022) cited in: "Poland set to resume work on largest hydroelectric plant after 33 years" in Notes from Poland, 18 January 2022.
“(BM: So "the fuel that feeds you" is the power of words?) NSN: I think so. The power of words, and a faith in the power of words. That words can give you something back if you trust them, and if you know that you're not trying to proclaim things all the time, but you're trying to discover things. (2002)”
Naomi Shihab Nye (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When the Indochina war started, the United States was undoubtedly the leading power in the world. Now that the Indochinese war is ended, the United States has been dismantled as a world power. It has been unmasked. It has been shown how weak it is as a world power. It has been overextended.”
Juan González (journalist) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Being empowered is a choice; it is a daily decision that defines who we are and it is accessible to everyone. Meeting Your Power is a reminder that power is inside all of us, and that your journey to empowerment begins with you! - MEETING YOUR POWER – DJ Zinhle & Nokubonga Mbanga”
DJ Zinhle (born 1983) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“While other countries are talking of electricity-powered vehicles, driverless trucks, and 200miles per hour trains, we are still battling with narrow gauge rail lines and Never Expect Power Always (NEPA), or Hold on your Power (Power Holding).”
Ayoka Olufunmilayo Adebambo first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: One of the major problems of Nigeria (24 April 2019)
“You don’t need to claim power to understand that you have power. You don’t have to take power from other people to have it.”
Minna Salami (born 1978) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The power of imagination, of image, which is the fundamental power of literature, is the power to determine a people’s fate.”
Paula Gunn Allen (1939–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I want us to understand that those who are on the sidelines, those who find their voices muted or find their voices actually silenced have power. And there is no more profound power in a democracy than the power to vote.”
Stacey Abrams (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's when people increasingly take charge, instituting and participating in nonhierarchical organization, that they begin to have the power to reshape society, rather than simply the "power" to react against those forces that ultimately have power over them.”
Cindy Milstein (born 2000) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My central thesis about the world is there are things that centralize power and they're bad, and there are things that decentralize power and they're good. Everything I can do to help decentralice power I'd like to do.”
George Hotz (born 1989) first seen 2023 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: George Hotz: Tiny Corp, Twitter, AI Safety, Self-Driving, GPT, AGI & God | Lex Fridman Podcast #387" (at 54m59s), Lex Fridman on YouTube, 29 June 2023.
“As for the deep cultural structures that legitimize the exclusion of women, it is very likely that these gradual changes will last too long, at least for me. We need to reflect on what power is, what it is for and how it is calibrated, or in other words, if we do not perceive that women are totally within power structures, then what we need to redefine is power, not women.”
Mary Beard (classicist) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[A]ttempts at the limitation of armaments are, it is clear, a vain thing. Armaments are merely an expression of Power. They grow because Power grows. And yet those parties are loudest in demanding their limitation which, with unperceived inconsequence, are the most ardent supporters of Power’s expansion!”
Bertrand de Jouvenel (1903–1987) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Clearly Predicting the cold war; already in 1945
“It was a lot of hard work, And I knew I wasn’t going to win. There are two kinds of power: money power and people power. If you don’t have the money, you can still win with people.”
Lucille Berrien (1928–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The ADA and equal opportunity is a non-solution for a capitalist society wherein the disabled workers and would-be workers, by definition, do not have the social or political power to realize their economic wants. Power lies at production, with the owners of capital, and the Supreme Court is one manifestation of that power.”
Marta Russell (1951–2013) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: from "Supreme Injustice: Disability and the Judiciary", article originally published in Z Commentaries (2002)
“when you set magic] in the real world, if you’re honest to the subject, you’re mostly going to write horror because it’s about power and playing with power. I’m interested in understanding how people shape power communally and collectively amongst each other.”
Margaret Killjoy (born 1982) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If it is true that power exists, this power belongs solely to the State, its institutions, and its laws; we cannot delegate this power to abusers, bullies, or dishonest individuals.”
Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa (1920–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Democracy is the power of choice; and that power belongs to the Filipino people. The true value of that power of choice is its ability to address and solve the real conditions, problems and challenges that are facing our people.”
Leila de Lima (born 1959) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/01/24/1665150/full-text-de-limas-privilege-speech-rise-fake-news's
“Power is the concrete power that any individual can hold, and which he can surrender, either as a whole or in part, so as to constitute a power or a political sovereignty.”
Susan Kiguli (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What is becoming very clear is that, even though we are saying that these cases should be based on a power analysis, legal access actually defines who has got the power and who can exercise the power.”
Sibongile Ndashe wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All empires fall, eventually.” “But why? It’s not for lack of power. In fact, it seems to be the opposite. Their power lulls them into comfort. They become undisciplined. Those who had to earn power are replaced by those who have known nothing else. Who have no comprehension of the need to rise above base desires.”
Max Barry (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No man is powerful as long as power is his need.”
Guy Finley (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Lemony Snicket: (narrating) Reading poetry, even if you are only reading to find a secret message within its words, can often give one a feeling of power, the way you can feel powerful if you are the only one who brought an umbrella on a rainy day or the only one who knows how to untie knots when you're taken hostage.”
Daniel Handler (born 1970) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But profiting off people’s emotions?” “Pity can be a powerful tool. Anytime you can make someone else feel something, you’ve got power over them.”
Brandon Sanderson (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But the myth of power is, of course, a very powerful myth, and probably most people in this world more or less believe in it. It is a myth, which, if everybody believes in it, becomes to that extent self-validating. But it is still epistemological lunacy and leads inevitably to various sorts of disaster.”
Gregory Bateson (1904–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The idea that physical power is one of the attributes of deity, and the conception of an all-powerful being directing the universe and the physical affairs of men, has left behind it a legacy of nothing but calamity. According to the scientific definition of truth.., there is no such being.”
Frederick Soddy (1877–1956) said by 1956 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If it was the case that WikiLeaks grew to be a very large and powerful media group and remained there for a long time, of course we would enter into the same elite power relationships and would become corrupted by it.”
Julian Assange (born 1971) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The concrete world isn't necessarily the most powerful world. The world of the mind — whether you're watching Matrix or whatever — the world that's inside here has the power to do a lot of good and a lot of damage.”
Julie Taymor (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The press is not only free, it is powerful. That power is ours. It is the proudest that man can enjoy. It was not granted by monarchs, it was not gained for us by aristocracies ; but it sprang from the people, and, with an immortal instinct, it has always worked for the people.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1845 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Printing Trade Festival (1845)
“Another powerful principle of our nature, which is the spring of war, is the passion for superiority, for triumph, for power. The human mind is aspiring, impatient of inferiority, and eager for preeminence and control.”
William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) said by 1842 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Secretary General, in a very real sense, is the servant of the General Assembly. Diminish his authority and you diminish the authority of the only body where all nations, regardless of power, are equal and sovereign. Until all the powerful are just, the weak will be secure only in the strength of this Assembly.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The nation state has never been associated with peace on earth. Its most powerful recommendation and record is, as a matter of fact, as a wager of war. The history of nation states is written around the dates of war, not peace, around arms and not arts. The organization of warfare without the coercive power of the nation state is simply unimaginable at the scale with which we have become familiar.”
Karl Hess (1923–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source