Quotes about Power

There's no greater feeling in the world than when you can put a smile on somebody's face just by walking into a room. It's unbelievable. And if I have that power, who am I to waste it, you know?

Because power corrupts, society's demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.

Technical civilization is man's conquest of space. It is a triumph frequently achieved by sacrificing an essential ingredient of existence, namely, time. In technical civilization, we expend time to gain space. To enhance our power in the world of space is our main objective. Yet to have more does not mean to be more. The power we attain in the world of space terminates abruptly at the borderline of time. But time is the heart of existence.

All we own is a passing intention, but what comes about will outlive and surpass our power.

Philosophers do not expend their power and passion unless they themselves are affected. The soul only communes with itself when the heart is stirred.

Freedom does not mean the right to live as we please. It means the power to live spiritually, to rise to a higher level of existence.

In this age, in this country, public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed. Whoever molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes, or pronounces judicial decisions.

If you want to test a man's character, give him power.

Two principles have stood face-to-face from the beginning of time; and they will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity and the other the divine right of kings.

Demagoguery is the ability to dress minor ideas with major words.

I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.

Towering genius...thirsts and burns for distinction; and, if possible, it will have it, whether at the expense of emancipating slaves or enslaving freemen.