“The people become accustomed to obeying him, and he becomes accustomed to commanding, hence the origin of usurpation and tyranny.”

—  Simón Bolívar

As quoted in The World’s Great Speeches, Lewis Copeland and Lawrence Lamm, edit., Dover Publications Inc. (1958) p. 386
The Angostura Address (1819)
Context: The continuation of authority in the same person has frequently proved the undoing of democratic governments. Repeated elections are essential to the system of popular governments, because there is nothing so dangerous as to suffer Power to be vested for a long time in one citizen. The people become accustomed to obeying him, and he becomes accustomed to commanding, hence the origin of usurpation and tyranny.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Aug. 31, 2022. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The people become accustomed to obeying him, and he becomes accustomed to commanding, hence the origin of usurpation an…" by Simón Bolívar?
Simón Bolívar photo
Simón Bolívar17
Venezuelan military and political leader, South American li… 1783–1830

Related quotes

Denis Diderot photo

“Power acquired by violence is only a usurpation, and lasts only as long as the force of him who commands prevails over that of those who obey.”

Denis Diderot (1713–1784) French Enlightenment philosopher and encyclopædist

La puissance qui s'acquiert par la violence n'est qu'une usurpation, et ne dure qu'autant que la force de celui qui commande l'emporte sur celle de ceux qui obéissent.
Article on Political Authority, Vol. 1 (1751)
L'Encyclopédie (1751-1766)

“People get accustomed to evil like they get accustomed to smog or noise or graffiti! But it doesn’t change what it is.”

Malcolm Azania book The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad

Source: The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad (2004), Chapter 34 “On Good, Evil, Invisible Hands, and the Wind” (p. 192)

Niccolo Machiavelli photo

“The people resemble a wild beast, which, naturally fierce and accustomed to live in the woods, has been brought up, as it were, in a prison and in servitude, and having by accident got its liberty, not being accustomed to search for its food, and not knowing where to conceal itself, easily becomes the prey of the first who seeks to incarcerate it again.”

Niccolo Machiavelli book Discourses on Livy

Book 1, Ch. 16
Discourses on Livy (1517)

Guillaume Apollinaire photo

“People quickly grow accustomed to being the slaves of mystery.”

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918) French poet

Source: The Cubist Painters

James Monroe photo

“It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, when they degenerate into a populace, that they are incapable of exercising their sovereignty. Usurpation is then an easy attainment, and an usurper soon found. The people themselves become the willing instruments of their own debasement and ruin.”

James Monroe (1758–1831) American politician, 5th President of the United States (in office from 1817 to 1825)

First Inaugural Address http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/monroe1.asp (4 March 1817)

George Washington photo

“Real Patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favourite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests. (Note: spelling/capitalization likely original.”

George Washington (1732–1799) first President of the United States

http://www.bartleby.com/43/24.html <br class="br">1790s, Farewell Address (1796)

Muhammad photo

“Ibn 'Umar reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "A Muslim man must hear and obey both in respect of what he likes and dislikes, unless he is commanded to do a wrong action. If he is commanded to do a wrong action, he should not hear or obey."”

Muhammad (570–632) Arabian religious leader and the founder of Islam

Riyadh-as-Saliheen by Imam Al-Nawawi, volume 4, hadith number 663
Sunni Hadith

Virginia Woolf photo

“Lines slip easily down the accustomed grooves. The old designs are copied so glibly that we are half inclined to think them original, save for that very glibness.”

Virginia Woolf A Letter to a Young Poet

"A Letter to a Young Poet"
The Death of the Moth and Other Essays (1942)

Letitia Elizabeth Landon photo

“The habits of a man accustomed to command — especially on a foreign station, would necessarily be reserved and secluded. Not only accustomed to implicit obedience, but aware of its imperative necessity under the circumstances in which they have been placed, such are apt to expect it from all. Now, what is but the necessary authority in official life, and with man over man, seems harshness when extended to woman.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) English poet and novelist

Literary Remains

Theodor Mommsen photo

“He accustomed the people to the fact that one man was the foremost in all things, and threw the lax and lame administration of the senatorial college into the shade by the vigour and dexterity of his personal rule. ]]”

Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903) German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist and writer

He knew neither the art of gaining his antagonists, nor that of keeping his own party in subjection
Vol. 3, Translated by W.P. Dickson.
On Gaius Marius
The History of Rome - Volume 3

Related topics