“The exercise of authority is odious, and they who know how to govern, leave it in abeyance as much as possible.”
Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 81
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
John Lancaster Spalding 202
Catholic bishop 1840–1916Related quotes

“Wherever there is a man who exercises authority, there is a man who resists authority.”
The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)

“You Are Cordially Invited”
Flying to America: 45 More Stories (2007)

“There is something very unnatural and odious in a government a thousand leagues off.”
Letter to Abigail Adams (17 May 1776)
1770s
Context: There is something very unnatural and odious in a government a thousand leagues off. A whole government of our own choice, managed by persons whom we love, revere, and can confide in, has charms in it for which men will fight.

A speech delivered at Niblo’s Saloon, in New York, on the 15 of March, 1837.
The Works of Daniel Webster, Boston, Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1851, vol. 1, p. 358 http://books.google.com/books?id=9DMOAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA358&lpg=PA358&dq=%22They+mean+to+govern+well%3B+but+they+mean+to+govern%22&source=bl&ots=oJ6IWDhF2B&sig=iYuDQMQjnHzxMjzbd6rJohrXVrQ&hl=en&ei=xqYqTKDpFML-nAeF2omjAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CCwQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%22They%20mean%20to%20govern%20well%3B%20but%20they%20mean%20to%20govern%22&f=false.
Vincent Ostrom (2008), The Intellectual Crisis in American Public Administration, p. 87; Cited in: " Vincent Ostrom on Woodrow Wilson and Political Monism http://discoursesonliberty.blogspot.nl/2012/04/vincent-ostrom-on-woodrow-wilson-and.html" at discoursesonliberty.blogspot.nl, 2012/04

“A man who knows how little he knows is well, a man who knows how much he knows is sick.”
The Way of Life, According to Laotzu, 1944.