“If God is dead, somebody is going to have to take his place. It will be megalomania or erotomania, the drive for power or the drive for pleasure, the clenched fist or the phallus, Hitler or Hugh Hefner.”

— Malcolm Muggeridge

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Malcolm Muggeridge 37

English journalist, author, media personality, and satirist 1903–1990

Yahia Lababidi (1973)

Signposts to Elsewhere (2008)

“There is more power in the open hand than in the clenched fist.”

Herbert N. Casson (1869–1951) Canadian journalist and writer

Herbert N. Casson cited in: The International Chemical Worker Vol. 13-15 (1953). p. 192
1950s and later

“Religions, which condemn the pleasures of sense, drive men to seek the pleasures of power. Throughout history power has been the vice of the ascetic.”

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist

The New York Herald-Tribune Magazine (6 March 1938)
1930s

“Hitler would go as white as a sheet and tightly clench his jaws, while his eyes would dilate. Everyone in his entourage would get panicky because these fits were always followed by an order to dismiss or to execute somebody.”

Theodor Morell (1886–1948) Personal physician to Adolf Hitler

"Hitler had split personality," first printed Tuesday, May 22, 1945.

“No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched.”

George Jean Nathan (1882–1958) American drama critic and magazine editor

" Undeveloped Notes http://books.google.com/books?id=xIEcAAAAIAAJ&q=%22No+man+can+think+clearly+when+his+fists+are+clenched%22&pg=PA137#v=onepage," The Smart Set (August 1922)
The World in Falseface http://books.google.com/books?id=7rlEAAAAIAAJ&q=%22No+man+can+think+clearly+when+his+fists+are+clenched%22&pg=PA21#v=onepage (1923)

“And over mastered by his choler, flies
With a clenched fist at him of Sericane.”

Ludovico Ariosto book Orlando Furioso

E tratto da la colera, aventosse
Col pugno chiuso al re di Sericana.
Canto XXVII, stanza 63 (tr. W. S. Rose)
Orlando Furioso (1532)

“Socialists cry "Power to the people", and raise the clenched fist as they say it. We all know what they really mean—power over people, power to the State.”

Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British stateswoman and politician

Speech to Conservative Central Council (15 March 1986) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106348
Second term as Prime Minister
Context: Popular capitalism, which is the economic expression of liberty, is proving a much more attractive means for diffusing power in our society. Socialists cry "Power to the people", and raise the clenched fist as they say it. We all know what they really mean— power over people, power to the State. To us Conservatives, popular capitalism means what it says: power through ownership to the man and woman in the street, given confidently with an open hand.

“You can't shake hands with a clenched fist.”

Indíra Gándhí (1917–1984) Indian politician and Prime Minister

Attributed
Variant: You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.

“Tightly clenched fist don’t catch blessings.”

Marcus Orelias (1993) American actor, rapper, songwriter, author and entrepreneur

“You can't shake hands with a clenched fist.”

George V of the United Kingdom (1865–1936) King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India

Attributed

“If God is dead, somebody is going to have to take his place. It will be megalomania or erotomania, the drive for power or the drive for pleasure, the clenched fist or the phallus, Hitler or Hugh Hefner.”

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Malcolm Muggeridge 37

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