Political power

Explore 7 quotes about Political power

This leads to a debate: is it better to be loved than feared, or the reverse? The answer is that it is desirable to be both, but because it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer for a prince to be feared than loved, if he is to fail in one of the two.

Niccolo Machiavelli

The Prince

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Topic

Leadership Political power

Author

Niccolo Machiavelli

Source

The Prince

Medium

Treatise

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Language

Italian

Time

1532 1530s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Machiavelli, Niccolò. Il Principe [The Prince]. Rome: Antonio Blado d'Asola, 1532.

Current Citation

Machiavelli, Nicolò. The Prince, translated by Peter Bondanella. Oxford University Press, 2005.

I repeat... That all power is a trust - that we are accountable for its exercise - that, from the people, and for the people, all springs, and all must exist.

Benjamin Disraeli

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Topic

Political power Political leadership Citizen and state Role of government Political theory

Speaker

The Prince

Author

Benjamin Disraeli

Source

Vivian Grey

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1826 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Disraeli, Benjamin. Vivian Grey. Vol. 4, London: Henry Colburn, 1826, bk. 6, ch. 7.

Where force is necessary, there it must be applied boldly, decisively and completely. But one must know the limitations of force; one must know when to blend force with a maneuver, a blow with an agreement.

Leon Trotsky

Read What Next? at marxists.org

More information about this quote

Topic

Carrots and sticks Political power Politics

Author

Leon Trotsky

Source

What Next?

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Language

Russian

Time

1932 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Trotsky, Leon. What Next? Vital Questions for the German Proletariat. Pioneer Publishers, 1932, ch. 14.

All political power is primarily an illusion... Mirrors and blue smoke, beautiful blue smoke rolling over the surface of highly polished mirrors, first a thin veil of blue smoke, then a thick cloud, that suddenly dissolves into wisps of blue smoke, the mirrors catching it all, bouncing it back and forth.

Jimmy Breslin

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Topic

Political power Politics

Author

Jimmy Breslin

Source

How the Good Guys Won

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1975 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Breslin, Jimmy. How the Good Guys Finally Won: Notes from an Impeachment Summer. Viking Press, 1975, ch. 2.

It is for us... To inquire constantly and persistently, when theories of national power or states' rights are propounded: "What interests are behind them and to whose advantage will changes or the maintenance of old forms accrue?" By refusing to do this we become victims of history-clay in the hands of its makers.

Charles A. Beard

An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States

More information about this quote

Topic

Political power Questioning authority

Author

Charles A. Beard

Source

An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1935 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Beard, Charles A. An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. The Macmillan Company, 1935, introduction.

The State is an instrument in the hands of the ruling class, used to break the resistance of the adversaries of that class.

More information about this quote

Topic

Class conflict Political power Government

Speaker

Joseph Stalin

Source

Foundations of Leninism

Medium

Lecture

Language

Russian

Time

1924 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Stalin, Joseph. The Foundations of Leninism. International Publishers, 1970, ch. 4, sect. 2. Originally a lecture called "The Dictatorship of the Proletariat." Foundations of Leninism lecture series. 1924, Sverdlov University, Moscow, Russia.

Whosoever commands the sea commands the trade; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself.

Sir Walter Raleigh

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Topic

International politics Political power

Author

Sir Walter Raleigh

Language

English

Time

1618 1610s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Raleigh, Walter. "A Discourse of the Invention of Ships, Anchors, Compass, &c." The Works of Sir Walter Raleigh, Kt. Vol. 8, Oxford University Press, 1829.