Authority Quotes - Page 34

• The authorities liked to say that we received a balanced diet; it was indeed balanced - between the unpalatable and the inedible.

  Nelson Mandela

  Long Walk To Freedom, Balanced, Diets

  Nelson Mandela (2013). “Long Walk To Freedom”, p.250, Hachette UK

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• To leave positions of great responsibility and authority is to die a little, but the time comes when that must be faced.

  Dean Acheson

  Responsibility, Littles, Position

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• Free discussion requires an atmosphere unembarrassed by any suggestion of authority or even respect.

  Hyman Rickover

  Atmosphere, Suggestions, Discussion

  United States. Congress. Joint Economic Committee, Hyman George Rickover (1982). “Economics of Defense Policy: Adm. H.G. Rickover : Hearing Before the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, Ninety-seventh Congress, Second Session”

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• Only the most unapologetic biblical fundamentalists, for instance, take every biblical injunction literally. If we all took all scripture at the same level of authority, then we would be more open to slavery, to the subjugation of women, to wider use of stoning. Jesus himself spoke out frequently against divorce in the strongest of terms.

  Jon Meacham

  Jesus, Divorce, Biblical

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• The right attitude toward any negative state begins with understanding that its only authority over you is a direct reflection of your attitude towards it.

  Guy Finley

  Attitude, Reflection, Understanding

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• You should not put too much trust in any unproved conjecture, even if it has been propounded by a great authority, even if it has been propounded by yourself. You should try to prove it or disprove it.

  George Polya

  Trying, Too Much, Should

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• Religion is a disease. It is born of fear; it compensates through hate in the guise of authority, revelation. Religion, enthroned in a powerful social organization, can become incredibly sadistic. No religion has been more cruel than the Christian.

  George Amos Dorsey

  Christian, Powerful, Hate

  George Amos Dorsey (1931). “Man's own show: civilization”

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• The Renaissance had resulted in the emancipation of the individual, in making him feel that the universe had no other purpose than his happiness. This brought an entirely new answer to the question, 'Why should I do this or that?' It used to be, 'Because self-instituted authority command you.' The answer now was, 'Because it is good for men.' In this lies our greatest debt to the Renaissance, that it instituted the welfare of men as the end of all action.

  Bernard Berenson

  Lying, Men, Self

  Bernard Berenson (1968). “Venetian and North Italian Schools”

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• The influence over government must be shared among all the people. If every individual which composes their mass participates of the ultimate authority, the government will be safe, because the corrupting of the whole mass will exceed any private resources of wealth, and public ones cannot be provided but by levies on the people. In this case every man would have to pay his own price.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Men, People, Safe

  Thomas Jefferson, Joyce Appleby, Terence Ball (1999). “Jefferson: Political Writings”, p.259, Cambridge University Press

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• Truth is now simply a matter of etiquette: it has no authority, no sense of rightness, because it is no longer anchored in anything absolute. If it persuades, it does so only because our experience has given it its persuasive power, but tomorrow our experience might be different.

  David F. Wells

  Doe, Different, Might

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• I mean to live my life an obedient man, but obedient to God, subservient to the wisdom of my ancestors; never to the authority of political truths arrived at yesterday at the voting booth.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Mean, Men, Yesterday

  William F. Buckley Jr. (2010). “Athwart History: Half a Century of Polemics, Animadversions, and Illuminations: A William F. Buckley Jr. Omnibus”, p.42, Encounter Books

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• My counsel advises me that there is no controlling legal authority or case that says there was any violation of law whatsoever.

  Al Gore

  Law, Cases, Violation

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• We now operate in a world in which we can assume neither competence nor good faith from the authorities. The consequences of this simple, devastating realization define American life.

  Chris Hayes

  Simple, Realization, World

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• Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority...

  Lord Acton

  Exercise, Men, Influence And Power

  "Historical Essays and Studies". Book by John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, oll.libertyfund.org. 1907.

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• The right is absolute ... government has no authority to forbid me from owning a firearm ... the debate is not about guns. It is about freedom.

  Tom McClintock

  Gun, Government, Debate

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• My decision to destroy the authority of the blacks in Saint Domingue (Haiti) is not so much based on considerations of commerce and money, as on the need to block for ever the march of the blacks in the world.

  Napoleon Bonaparte

  Block, Decision, Saint

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• We want to do something and a definition is a means of doing it. If we want certain results then we must use certain meanings or definitions. But no definition has any authority apart from a purpose, or to bar us from other purposes.

  I. A. Richards

  Mean, Bars, Purpose

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• The form of government that is most suitable to the artist is no government at all. Authority over him and his art is ridiculous.

  Oscar Wilde

  Art, Government, Ridiculous

  Oscar Wilde (1969). “The Artist as Critic: Critical Writings of Oscar Wilde”, p.282, University of Chicago Press

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• Basically, art should remain something that is complex, that has many layers, so there's always a possibility to reconsider things and have a different perspective. It's not just an advertisement with one single message that has some authority, political or not.

  Camille Henrot

  Art, Perspective, Political

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

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• We lost faith in authority in the '50s, up to a point, and we spawned a lot of anti-heroes in movies, which were refreshing and open. But at this point, with the distrust that's there and the disillusionment with leadership that is so acute, we need some kind of a focus on taking the irony out and taking the anti-hero element away.

  Brendan Gleeson

  Hero, Focus, Needs

  Source: collider.com

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• Some people feel like you need to have a very specialized understanding of music to have the authority to talk about it. They are such good directors that it's perfectly possible to have conceptual and directorial and storytelling conversations about music without needing to know all the technical pieces.

  Henry Jackman

  People, Understanding, Directors

  Source: collider.com

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• The security of the Nation is not at the ramparts alone, Security also lies in the value of our free institutions. A cantankerous press, an obstinate press, a ubiquitous press must be suffered by those in authority in order to preserve the even greater values of freedom of expression and the right of the people to know.

  Murray Gurfein

  Lying, Expression, Order

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• Authority. The antithesis of science.

  Stephen Baxter

  Antithesis

  Stephen Baxter (2012). “Moonseed”, p.50, HarperCollins UK

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• The answer is to say 'No!' to authority when authority is wrong.

  Studs Terkel

  Answers

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• I realized clearly, perhaps for the first time, what strained and anxious lives dogs must lead, so emotionally involved in the world of men, whose affections they strive endlessly to secure, whose authority they are expected unquestioningly to obey, and whose mind they never can do more than imperfectly reach and comprehend.

  J. R. Ackerley

  Dog, Men, Mind

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