Power Corrupts Quotes

Knowledge is a dangerous thing. But ignorance is no protection. ~ Masha Du Toit

We cannot win the weak by sharing our wealth with them. They feel our generosity as oppression. ~ Eric Hoffer

I truly believe that all power corrupts. Such is probably the thinking behind every political film ever made in Hollywood. ~ Elia Kazan

Many of the greatest tyrants on the records of history have begun their reigns in the fairest manner. But the truth is, this unnatural power corrupts both the heart and the understanding. And to prevent the least hope of amendment, a king is ever surrounded by a crowd of infamous flatterers, who find their account in keeping him from the least light of reason, till all ideas of rectitude and justice are utterly erased from his mind. ~ Edmund Burke

We're taught Lord Acton's axiom: all power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. I believed that when I started these books, but I don't believe it's always true any more. Power doesn't always corrupt. Power can cleanse. What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals. ~ Robert Caro

It's said that 'power corrupts,' but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. When they do act, they think of it as service, which has limits. The tyrant, though, seeks mastery, for which he is insatiable, implacable. ~ David Brin

It is not that power corrupts but that power is a magnet to the corruptible. ~ Frank Herbert

They ordered the extermination
of all minds they couldn't control ~ Tupac Shakur

What is true is that the idea of power corrupts. Power corrupts most rapidly those who believe in it, and it is they who will want it most. Obviously, our democratic system tends to give power to those who hunger for it and gives every opportunity to those who don't want power to avoid getting it. Not a very satisfactory arrangement if power corrupts those who believe in it and want it. ~ Gregory Bateson

To assume all the powers is not good for anybody. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. All those experiments have a bad ending. ~ Rafael Correa

He always says that those who control the present can rewrite the past. ~ Anne Fortier

This book will prove the following ten facts:
1. A Goon is a being who melts into the foreground and sticks there.
2. Pigs have wings, making them hard to catch.
3. All power corrupts, but we need electricity.
4. When an irresistible force meets an immovable object, the result is a family fight.
5. Music does not always sooth the troubled beast.
6. An Englishman's home is his castle.
7. The female of the species is more deadly than the male.
8. One black eye deserves another.
9. Space is the final frontier, and so is the sewage farm.
10. It pays to increase your word power. ~ Diana Wynne Jones

When power corrupts, it keeps a log of its progress, written into that most sensitive memory device, the human face. Who could withstand the light? What viewer could believe in the war, the system, the countless lies about American freedom, looking into these mugs shots of the bought and sold? ~ Thomas Pynchon

It has been often said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. ~ Eric Hoffer

Time is money, Money is power, power corrupts eventually ~ B.O.B

Doctors need to be held accountable, since power corrupts. There must be complaints procedures and litigation, commissions of enquiry, punishment and compensation. At the same time if you do not hide or deny any mistakes when things go wrong, and if your patients and their families know that you are distressed by whatever happened, you might, if you are lucky, receive the precious gift of forgiveness. ~ Henry Marsh

Most of the crimes which disturb the internal peace of society are produced by the restraints which the necessary, but unequal, laws of property have imposed on the appetites of mankind, by confining to a few the possession of those objects that are coveted by many. Of all our passions and appetites, the love of power is of the most imperious and unsociable nature, since the pride of one man requires the submission of the multitude. In the tumult of civil discord, the laws of society lose their force, and their place is seldom supplied by those of humanity. The ardor of contention, the pride of victory, the despair of success, the memory of past injuries, and the fear of future dangers, all contribute to inflame the mind, and to silence the voice of pity. From such motives almost every page of history has been stained with civil blood.... ~ Edward Gibbon

Power corrupts, and there is nothing more corrupting than power exercised in secret. ~ Daniel Schorr

The old axiom that 'all power corrupts' has doubtful validity, because it derives from our neglect of Plato 's advice to find men carefully and train them by methods which make them fit for heroes. ~ Oswald Mosley

Power corrupts. Knowledge is power. Study hard. Be evil. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

You wouldn't know what it's like to grow up privileged and powerful. It's intoxicating. Watching how people defer to you, and to your parents. Power reeks from your pores, and it infects people around you. Power corrupts, envelops, entices . . . The more powerful my father becomes, the more he fears losing it. ~ Robert Bryndza

It is not easy to be the citizen of a Superpower, nor is it getting easier. I would feel isolated with my shame if I were not sure that I belong, among millions of Americans, to a perennial minority of the nation. The obstinate bleeding hearts who will never agree that might makes right and know if the end justifies the means, the end is worthless. Power corrupts, an old truism but why does it also make the powerful so stupid? Their power schemes become unstuck in time, at cruel cost to other; then the powerful put their stupid important heads together and invent the next similar schemes [written 1987]. ~ Martha Gellhorn

Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. ~ Eric Hoffer

If power corrupts, the reverse is also true; persecution corrupts the victims though perhaps in subtler and more tragic ways. ~ Arthur Koestler

Unlimited power corrupts the possessor. ~ William Pitt

I no longer give Power Point presentations, because I've come to believe that power corrupts, and Power Point corrupts absolutely. ~ Vinton Cerf

In the United States, though power corrupts, the expectation of power paralyzes. ~ John Kenneth Galbraith

One of the (many) problems with government is not that power corrupts or even that it is magnetic to corruptible people; rather, it is that we have been conditioned to tolerate corruption in power, and so we don't even try to hold our politicians accountable. ~ Michel Templet

Knowledge is power, isn't that what we say? But power corrupts. An institution based on knowledge and learning can't help but be a corrupt institution. ~ Sam Cabot

Great men are almost always bad men. ~ John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton

Power is pure undiluted energy which is incapable of corrupting itself.
So where got we this 'that power corrupts men'? We got it wrong.
Power does not corrupt men, it only reveals the corruption in them.
If ever we find power corrupted in any way, we should know it has fallen victim to a man. ~ Paul Bamikole

If knowledge is power and power corrupt, does knowledge corrupt? ~ James Moore

Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power. ~ Eric Hoffer

Power corrupts. If the Church is given too much power, it will become corrupted. So to keep the Church in line with the teachings of Christ, we must make sure that it can never have temporal power. Religion has its place and politics has its own. These two should not be mixed together or the result would be catastrophic. ~ Ali Sina

Then there is the worst part of Christianity, which is awful: power, corruption, manipulation ... But then again, these feature are ever present in any organization. ~ Bruce Kent

Power corrupts the best of men.
Power destroys the worst of men.
Corrupt nations end up in turmoil.
Corrupt rulers end up in Hell. ~ Matshona Dhliwayo

I know, better than anyone else, that there are no heroes coming to save us. There are no good Epics. None of them protect us. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. We ~ Brandon Sanderson

The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections. ~ John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton

He who is given power will inevitably become an oppressor and exploiter of society. ~ Mikhail Bakunin

It has been said that absolute power corrupts absolutely, but many it not be truer to say that to be absolutely powerful a man must first corrupt himself? ~ Terence Rattigan

If all power corrupts, then a doctor, who literally holds life and death in his hands, must be at particular risk. ~ P.D. James

Malcolm X and Edmund Burke shared an appreciation of this important insight, this painful truth
that the state wants men to be weak and timid, not strong and proud. ~ Thomas Szasz

Absolute power does not corrupt absolutely, absolute power attracts the corruptible. ~ Frank Herbert

I can remember when believing in conspiracies wasn't cool. Now, in the
second decade of the twenty-first century, more people are starting to
sense that things may not be as they appear to be. The truth in Lord Acton's
classic axiom that "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely"
becomes more self-evident every day. Politicians from the only two parties
we have to choose from break promises, are unresponsive to the will of the
people, and opt for war, austerity measures, and state control over and over
again. Gary Allen, author of the book None Dare Call It Conspiracy, defined
things perfectly when he wrote, "It must be remembered that the first job of
any conspiracy, whether it be in politics, crime or within a business office, is
to convince everyone else that no conspiracy exists. ~ Donald Jeffries

Power corrupts on an equal-opportunity basis. ~ Jacqueline Novogratz

Many years ago I was so innocent I still considered it possible that we could become the humane and reasonable America so many members of my generation used to dream of. We dreamed of such an America during the Great Depression, when there were no jobs. And then we fought and often died for that dream during the Second World War, when there was no peace.
But I know now that there is not a chance in hell of America becoming humane and reasonable. Because power corrupts us, and absolute power corrupts us absolutely. Human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power. By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East? Their morale, like so many lifeless bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas. ~ Kurt Vonnegut

Knowledge is power, power corrupts. Study hard, be evil. ~ Anonymous

Ed, knows power corrupts, they'll have experienced that first-hand. They'll see how I'd be tempted to use my own power for personal reasons. They may not approve of that, but they'll buy ~ Margaret Atwood

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

Absolute power corrupts absolutely; and if you surrender your personal responsibility to a government which promises to take care of you, they will only take care of themselves. ~ Howard Nemerov

When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses. ~ John F. Kennedy

You know, 'power corrupts, and absolute power
corrupts absolutely?' It's the same with powerlessness.
Absolute powerlessness corrupts absolutely. Einstein
said everything had changed since the atom was split,
except the way we think. We have to think anew. ~ Studs Terkel

Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts ... perhaps the fear of a loss of power. ~ John Steinbeck

Power corrupts, and obsolete power corrupts obsoletely. ~ Ted Nelson

Knowledge is power; power corrupts. Corruption brings shame and ruin. Ignorance may not be bliss, but it is perhaps preferable to a life lived in shame. ~ Lauren Kate

The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern: every class is unfit to govern. ~ Lord Acton

With people in high office, the old - you go into the extreme, which is absolute power and absolute power corrupts. ~ Clint Eastwood

When power leads man towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses, for art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstones of our judgement. The artists, however faithful to his personal vision of reality, becomes the last champion of the individual mind and sensibility against an intrusive society and an officious state. The great artist is thus a solitary figure. He has, as Frost said, "a lover's quarrel with the world." In pursuing his perceptions of reality he must often sail against the currents of his time. This is not a popular role. ~ John F. Kennedy

power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutley ~ John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton

On the throne of the world, any delusion can become fact. ~ Gore Vidal

If power corrupts, weakness in the seat of power, with its constant necessity of deals and bribes and compromising arrangements,corrupts even more. ~ Barbara Tuchman

Power corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat. ~ John F. Lehman, Jr.

All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. ~ Frank Herbert

It is supposed that power corrupts,' the caterpillar said in a voice as untroubled as time itself. yet the powerful are often corrupt before they are powerful. In fact, I find that they too often become powerful by being corrupt. Whether real or perceived, a lack of power can also corrupt. ~ Frank Beddor

In passing however I must say of one thing that has pressed upon me lately and encreased my Humility and capability of submission and that is this truth - Men of Genius are great as certain ethereal Chemicals operating on the Mass of neutral intellect - but they have not any individuality, any determined Character - I would call the top and head of those who have a proper self Men of Power. ~ John Keats

Pressure has the power to create a diamond, but it has to be the "right" pressure. ~ Shannon L. Alder

The power confided in me will be used to hold, occupy and possess the property and places belonging to the government, and to collect the duties and imposts. ~ Abraham Lincoln

With one eye on today's blessings you will have more staying power for the distant goal. ~ Henry B. Eyring

Common sense says that if something possessed the ability to create itself from nothing, then that something wasn't nothing, it was something - a very intelligent creative power of some sort. ~ Ray Comfort

Families, may you be filled with the love and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is at work in and through you. May you understand afresh the role He has graciously entrusted to you in the children who are in your home. As you seek to build a spiritually healthy family, may you be encouraged and strengthened by the power of God's Spirit to not grow weary and to not give up. Be strong and courageous and give thanks to God in all things. And now to Him who is able to accomplish more than we can think or imagine, to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. ~ Michelle Anthony

I believe in power of speech, and food inside prison. ~ Popo Santos

Marx did not recognize that our desire to connect with a transcendent power runs even deeper than our drive for economic satisfaction. Each of us seeks. How we honor each other's search will tell the tale of the next millennium. ~ Jeffrey Klein

If I could undo my past for you, McKenzie, I would. But I don't have that power. No fae does. ~ Sandy Williams

Then let us not think that this Law is a special Law for the Jews; but let us understand that God intended to deliver us a general rule, to which we must yield ourselves. Since, it is so, it is to be concluded, not only that it is lawful for all kings and magistrates, to punish heretics and such as have perverted the pure truth; but also that they be bound to do it, and that they misbehave themselves towards God, if they suffer errors to rest without redress, and employ not their whole power to shew greater zeal in their behalf than in all other things. ~ John Calvin

The life that intends to be wholly obedient, wholly submissive, wholly listening, is astonishing in its completeness. Its joys are ravishing, its peace profound, its humility the deepest, its power world-shaking, its love enveloping, its simplicity that of a trusting child. ~ Thomas Raymond Kelly

Tantra is only recommended for someone who has a very developed will power, a terrific sense of humor, and a sense that nothing else matters but God and self-realization. ~ Frederick Lenz

Well, Mr Ward. Given how much sex we have, I'd say you're the majority shareholder of power in this relationship. ~ Jodi Ellen Malpas

Creative confidence and perseverance can make you free. Lack of faith in your own ability, surrender of will power, or panic replacing logic will make you into a spider's lunch. ~ Doug "Ten" Rose

A tendency to resume the same mode of action at stated times is peculiarly the characteristic of the nervous system; and on this account regularity is of great consequence in exercising the moral and intellectual power. All nervous diseases have a marked tendency to observe regular periods; and the natural inclination to sleep at the approach of night is another instance of the same fact. ~ George Combe

It had to unleash some invisible magic, he thought; Hades and Persephone, joining together again within these black and holy stone walls, for the first time in millennia. As they indulged in enjoying one another, how could they not be reactivating some power within the Earth itself? Surely they were at least bringing autumn storm clouds rolling and thundering over the Mediterranean.
But probably every boy felt that way when finally in bed caressing the girl he loved. ~ Molly Ringle

Bring all your power out my friend, and throw away such Gods, such doctrines, such institutions, that impede in the path of human progress. ~ Abhijit Naskar

Abroad, the balance of power is shifting. There are new and more terrible weapons
new and uncertain nations
new pressures of population and deprivation. ~ John F. Kennedy

The government's coercive taxing power necessarily creates two classes: those who create and those who consume the wealth expropriated and transferred by that power. ~ Sheldon Richman

Love is giving up control. It's surrendering the desire to control the other person. The two - love and controlling power over the other person - are mutually exclusive. If we are serious about loving someone, we have to surrender all the desires within us to manipulate the relationship. ~ Rob Bell

The essence of power is the knowledge that what you do is going to have an effect not just an immediate but perhaps a lifelong effect on the happiness and wellbeing of millions of people and so I think the essence of power is to be conscious of what it can mean for others. ~ Bob Hawke

Let whatever happens, be what needs to happen, so that I may awaken. ~ T. Scott McLeod

Blame confers an awesome power. And it's simplifying, not only to onlookers and victims but to culprits most of all. It imposes order on slag. Blame conveys clear lessons in which others may take comfort: if only she hadn't -- , and by implication makes tragedy avoidable. There may even be a fragile peace to be found in the assumption of total responsibility... ~ Lionel Shriver

Value is the life-giving power of anything; cost, the quantity of labour required to produce it; its price, the quantity of labourwhich its possessor will take in exchange for it. ~ John Ruskin

When you are present, when your attention is fully in the Now, Presence will flow into and transform what you do. There will be a quality and power in it. You are present when what you are doing is not primarily a means to an end (money, prestige, winning) but fulfilling in itself, when there is joy and aliveness in what you do. ~ Eckhart Tolle

Tis a sort of duty to be rich, that it may be in one's power to do good, riches being another word for power. ~ Mary Wortley Montagu

The void holds a form of energy moving at an inconceivably high rate of vibration, and that void is filled with a form of power/energy which adapts itself to the nature of the thoughts we hold in our minds; and influences us, in natural ways, to transmute our thoughts into their physical equivalent. ~ Napoleon Hill

There are women vain of advantages not connected with their persons, such as birth, rank, and fortune; it is difficult to feel less the dignity of the sex. The origin of all women may be called celestial, for their power is the offspring of the gifts of Nature; by yielding to pride and ambition they soon destroy the magic of their charms. ~ Madame De Stael

Tales of power and ambition and intrigue and betrayal and desire - when you're telling those in a big way, you automatically want to go to Shakespeare. ~ Beau Willimon

Money was the blood of civilized society, its currents running through everything and everyone. Where money was insufficient, things withered. People starved, sickened and died, constructions eroded, even ideas perished. Where funds were plentiful, the same things blossomed with new life.
And money was, in the end, little more than the product of collective imagination. A slip of paper or a coin had no value beyond that of the material it was fashioned of. It only took on a life of its own when people as a whole collectively agreed that certain papers and coins were worth something.
Only then did people bleed and die for it. For a fantasy, a faith given form in hard, concrete numbers.
Then again, much of society was built on a series of shared delusions. Clothing was little more than scraps of particular materials with particular geometries, but people clung to the idea of fashion. Style. Good and bad fashion was another belief system, one which all members of a culture were indoctrinated into. Breaking certain conventions didn't only challenge the aesthetic sensibilities of others, but it challenged their sense of self. It reminded them, subconsciously, of the very pretendings they clung to.
Only those with power could stand against society's tides, flaunt the collective's 'safe' aesthetic. When one had enough power, others couldn't rise against them and safely say something calculated to reduce their own dissonance and remind the offending party of the u ~ Wildbow

If you are a tree, smiles are your flowers. Bloom endlessly. ~ Debasish Mridha

Notice carefully every word here. It is not our prayer which draws Jesus into our hearts. Nor is it our prayer which moves Jesus to come in to us. All He needs is access. He enters in of His own accord, because He desires to come in. To pray is nothing more involved than to let Jesus into our needs, and permitting Him to exercise His own power in dealing with them. And that requires no strength. It is only a question of our wills. Will we give Jesus access to our needs?. ~ Ole Hallesby

Prayer is like water - something you can't imagine has the strength or power to do any good, and yet give it time and it can change the lay of the land. ~ Jodi Picoult

We cannot enjoy power in the priesthood until we learn to act by faith. ~ Robert L. Millet

Journey becomes difficult when we know the destination but not aware of the right path, may be the supreme power testing your moral and physical stamina. ~ Durgesh Satpathy

A lot of women these days, a lot of young women don't want to call themselves feminists. You have this cheap, hideous 'girl power' sort of fad, which I think is pretty benign at best, but at worst, I think it's a way of taking the politics out of feminism and making it some kind of fashion. ~ Ani DiFranco