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Power

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“States are violent institutions. The government of any country, including ours, represents some sort of domestic power structure, and it's usually violent. States are violent to the extent that they're powerful, that's roughly accurate.”
Noam Chomsky (born 1928) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There exists a limit to the force even the most powerful may apply without destroying themselves. Judging this limit is the true artistry of government. Misuse of power is the fatal sin.”
Frank Herbert (1920–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You will perhaps say that the sinews and muscles of a bird are incomparably more powerful than those of a man... But the reply to this is that such great strength gives it a reserve of power beyond what it ordinarily uses...”
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) said by 1519 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Hence, political exposure in themselves serve as a powerful instrument for disintegrating the system we oppose, the means for diverting from he enemy his casual or temporary allies, the means for spreading enmity and distrust among those who permanently share power with the autocracy.”
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Chapter Three, Section E, Essential Works of Lenin (1966)
“To the excessively fearful the chief characteristic of power is its arbitrariness. Man had to gain enormously in confidence before he could conceive an all-powerful God who obeys his own laws.”
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Trumpism or America first is very simple low taxes and regulations , the most powerful military , tariffs on countries taking advantage, protection of section amendment , great healthcare , low energy prices, parental power on school boards, life , strong borders.”
Donald Trump (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In relative terms, America is not so dominant a power as it was 20 years ago, while her adversaries seem stronger and more united. Our most powerful rival, Xi Jinping's China, seems belligerent and bellicose compared with the China we brought into the World Trade Organization. Looking back, and looking ahead, the trend line is not good.”
Pat Buchanan (born 1938) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twenty Years after 9/11 — Are We Better Off?" Chronicles (September 10, 2021).
“Anyway that’s a large part of what economics is—people arbitrarily, or as a matter of taste, assigning numerical values to non-numerical things. And then pretending that they haven’t just made the numbers up, which they have. Economics is like astrology in that sense, except that economics serves to justify the current power structure, and so it has a lot of fervent believers among the powerful.”
Kim Stanley Robinson (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For of course it was impossible that she was doing it all without cause. That was the nature of power; when you had it no one was ever again simply a friend, simply a lover. Inevitably they all wanted things you could give them—if nothing else, the prestige of friendship with the powerful.”
Kim Stanley Robinson (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Dominance is not really a strategic policy or political philosophy at all. It is a seductive illusion that tempts the powerful to satiate their hunger for more power still by striking a Faustian bargain. And as always happens — sooner or later — to those who shake hands with the devil, they find out too late that what they have given up in the bargain is their soul.”
Al Gore (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The exercise of power is determined by thousands of interactions between the world of the powerful and that of the powerless, all the more so because these worlds are never divided by a sharp line: everyone has a small part of himself in both.”
Václav Havel (1936–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What makes you weep, my friend? In you is all power. Summon up your all-powerful nature, O mighty one, and this whole universe will lie at your feet. It is the Self alone that predominates, and not matter.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In London it was not the interests of class which were specially concentrated. It was there that wealth was all-powerful; and wealth has taken desperate offence at their actions during the present year because the Government recommended to Parliament that power in the English army shall no longer be the prize of wealth, but the reward of merit.”
William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898) first seen 1871 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Whitby on the Cardwell Reforms (2 September 1871), quoted in The Times (4 September 1871), p. 12
“We are the most powerful nation on earth. No external power, no terrorist organization, can defeat us. But we can defeat ourselves by getting caught in a quagmire.”
George Soros (born 1930) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Law is the agent of those in political power; it is the product of those powerful enough to define right and wrong and to have that definition legitimized by “law.” This is not to say that “might makes right,” but it is to say that Might makes Law.”
Stokely Carmichael (1941–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Charles V. Hamilton
“Apart from any other basis which might justify a superiority, education, as a power, raised him who possessed it over the weak, who lacked it, and the educated man counted in his circle, however large or small it was, as the mighty, the powerful, the imposing one: for he was an authority.”
Max Stirner (1806–1856) said by 1856 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Look upon yourself as more powerful than they give you out for, and you have more power; look upon yourself as more, and you have more.”
Max Stirner (1806–1856) said by 1856 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cambridge 1995, p. 318
“The eyes were too intense, tortured almost. He was tall, but the body was wiry rather than powerful. Nature had gifted him with a cat’s grace and lethal swiftness, rather than the raw power of a bull”
Alice Borchardt (1939–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Difference is that raw and powerful connection from which our personal power is forged.”
Audre Lorde (1934–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I reflect back on this particular strand of anti-Semitism, I see three distinct features. The first is demographic power: increase the number of people who believe that Jews are their enemies. The second is to use Islam as a vehicle to promote anti-Semitism. The third is psychological: present the Muslim as an underdog fighting a powerful and ruthless enemy.”
Ayaan Hirsi Ali (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Empire is emerging today as the center that supports the globalization of productive networks and casts its widely inclusive net to try to envelop all power relations within its — and yet at the same time it deploys a powerful police function against the new barbarians and the rebellious slaves who threaten its order.”
Antonio Negri (1933–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The solution can only come from us, from the people who were beaten by the system. But we were beaten because we were not organised, not powerful. All of the demonstrations, against the Iraq war, at Davos, against the Israeli attack on Gaza: why didn't we win? I have to answer that it is because young people are not organised; they don't represent a political power.”
Nawal El Saadawi (1931–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The reality is that the media are probably the most powerful of all our institutions today and they, or rather we [journalists], too often are squandering our power and ignoring our obligations. The consequence of our abdication of responsibility is the ugly spectacle of idiot culture!”
Carl Bernstein (born 1944) first seen 1998 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The best obtainable version of the truth, Carl Bernstein's talk at the annual convention of the Radio and Television News Directors Association, 1998-09-26.
“I think that the West is the most powerful reality in the history of this country. It's always had a power, a presence, an attraction that differentiated it from the rest of the United States. Whether the West was a place to be conquered, or the West as it is today, a place to be protected and nurtured. It is the regenerative force of America.”
J. S. Holliday (1924–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Most men – not just the men in Brentwood – are scared of powerful women with brains. There’s something in a man that makes him want to have power over a woman – whether it’s in the bedroom or because they earn more money. It boosts their egos.”
Jodie Marsh (born 1978) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A powerful consumers cooperative movement helps to maintain an equitable balance between prices and profits, and thereby decreases the power of owners and investors.”
Kirby Page (1890–1957) said by 1957 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.”
Geert Hofstede (1928–2020) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hofstede (1997, p. 28) Anthony Henry (2008) Understanding Strategic Management. p. 359.
“I firmly believe that companies should be designed to be immortal. ... Dell's future is bright largely due to the power of a founder who can think strategically and doesn't milk his company for personal gain. In the current environment that is a unique and powerful advantage.”
Rob Enderle (born 1954) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Michael Dell Interview: How Dell Is Being Reborn in IT Business Edge (17 April 2012)
“A good way to find the most powerful people in the US is to find the most responsible people. No one in the US is scheming for power. A lot of them seem to be working for change. No one in the US is brainwashing the masses. A lot of them seem to be educating the public. No one in the US is ruling the world. A lot of them seem to be making global policies.”
Curtis Yarvin (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Women’s liberation has often been portrayed as a movement intent on encroaching upon or taking power and privilege away from men, as though in some dismal zero-sum game, only one gender at a time could be free and powerful. (p35)”
Rebecca Solnit (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The most powerful thing young students with neither money nor power can do, is to do activism and use journalists and their cameras. When people learn about the problems and discuss them, things start to change.”
Oksana Shachko (1987–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“At [DHS immigrant detention] facility, children recounted being held down for forcible injections, which medical records show are powerful antipsychotics and sedatives. I think an agency that pins children down + forcibly injects them w/ antipsychotic drugs shouldn’t be given more power.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born 1989) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post, (2 March 2019)
“In Washington, I usually know my questions of power are getting somewhere when the powerful stop referring to me as “Congresswoman” and start referring to me as “young lady” instead”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born 1989) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe in the inherent power of language and letters and words. The world started with God saying something, because language is powerful.”
Myla Goldberg (born 1971) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think it’s easier to honor the male in our culture because it’s much more accepted. There are almost no truly powerful and sustained images of female power. None. Look at Marilyn Monroe? The Virgin Mary? And what images exist for Indian women? The big question is, How do we describe ourselves as women in this culture? It’s unclear.”
Joy Harjo (born 1951) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On finding ways to honor women in “Joy Harjo: An Interview” in Poets & Writers (July/August 1993)
“Political novels can be boring to read unless written effectively with the powerful tools of fiction; I was trying to do this. I want my books to be pleasurable and edifying. Though Frederick Douglass didn’t write fiction, his speeches have great narrative power because he integrates storytelling tools elegantly with his political analysis.”
Min Jin Lee (born 1968) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On her penchant for writing political novels in “Min Jin Lee: 'History has failed almost everybody who is ordinary'” in The Guardian (2018 Aug 2)
“Culture is power. The music we listen to, the social media we consume, the food we eat, the movies and television shows we watch-these all inform our values, behaviors, and worldviews. Culture is in a constant battle for our imagination. It is our most powerful tool to inspire the social change these times demand.”
Favianna Rodriguez (born 1978) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Allah said, ‘No Prophet before Muhammad took booty from his enemy nor prisoners for ransom.’ Muhammad said, ‘I was made victorious with terror. The earth was made a place for me to clean. I was given the most powerful words. Booty was made lawful for me. I was given the power to intercede. These five privileges were awarded to no prophet before me.’”
Ibn Ishaq (704–768) said by 768 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the past quarter century... new rules... have weakened and even destroyed consumer protections while increasing the power of the already powerful. ...[T]he rules affecting who wins and who loses economically have been quietly and subtly rewritten.”
David Cay Johnston (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A truly powerful holder of power does not simply elicit agreement, but enthusiasm and excitement.”
Byung-Chul Han (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Rather, power is most powerful, most stable, where it creates a feeling of freedom and where it does not need to resort to violence.”
Byung-Chul Han (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nothing attracts the powerful quite like more power.”
Ben Aaronovitch (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is not medicine we should fear, but the folly of mankind. Every day, the experience of our predecessors increases our ability to change nature by using its own laws. But using this power wisely is what each generation must learn in its turn. We are certainly more powerful today than ever before, but we are no wiser: Technology is cumulative, wisdom is not.”
Jérôme Lejeune (1926–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We never hide our shadow, we give more power to our people, to our media. If our three million people participate, I think we are going to be a big, powerful country.”
Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj (born 1963) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: President: Empowered People Create a Powerful Mongolia" in IPI (25 September 2013)
“I was awed at the power of an idea whose time has come. An idea is more powerful than all the nuclear weapons, bombers and tanks that a country has at its disposal. An idea that people are changing the world today, not the weapons.”
Hurley Goodall (1927–2021) first seen 1990 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Star Press (June 27, 1990)
“The occupation of Crimea must prove to be increasingly costly for Russia. There is a notion that Crimea won’t be de-occupied while Putin is in power because that would signal his political death. But, if the sanctions for international damage are powerful enough, then it is quite possible that Crimea will be freed even under Putin.”
Mustafa Dzhemilev (born 1943) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The lessons of loss: Leader of Crimean Tatars Mustafa Dzhemilev talks Putin and ongoing fight for Crimea" (14 August 2012)
“As youths, we are a powerful force and our actions can make a huge difference. Thus, I am calling on young people to come out en-masse and demand for [urgent] climate action from [African] leaders. It is happening all over the world, youths have the power to influence many things and make our leaders listen to us”
Adenike Oladosu (born 1994) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I would change the way the average Nigerian woman thinks; how she sees her fellow woman as competition. I would make them know that wealth is not exclusive to men. We women are so powerful but we don’t even know how much power we have and possess.”
Ifu Ennada (born 1992) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As a poet, I have always treated English as a weapon in a power struggle, wielding it against those who are more powerful than me. But I falter when using English as an expression of love.”
Cathy Park Hong (born 1976) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are powerful forces undermining progress in Africa. But one must never underestimate the power of the people to bring about change.”
Ama Ata Aidoo (1942–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source