Quotes about power
page 20

“From a distance, it makes perfect sense that the people and the things you think will save you are the very ones that have the power to disappoint you most bitterly, but up close it can hit you as a bewildering surprise.”

Tom Perrotta (1961) American novelist and screenwriter

Source: Joe College

People, Disappointment, Thinking, Sense

“The demon that you can swallow gives you its power, and the greater life’s pain, the greater life’s reply.”

Joseph Campbell The Power of Myth

Source: The Power of Myth

Life, Pain

“Silence & smile are two powerful tools. Smile is the way to solve many problems & Silence is the way to avoid many problems.”

Iris Johansen (1938) Novelist

For Men, Smile, Way, Problem

“Forget solar energy—if you could harness denial, it would power the world for generations.”

Neal Shusterman (1962) American novelist

Source: Challenger Deep

World, Forgetting

“Secrets are more powerful when people know you've got them.”

E. Lockhart book The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

Source: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

People, Secret

“The Brotherhood was strong, a unit. a powerful force in their world for good. And so too were the females. Strong. A unit. A powerful force for good in their world.”

Jessica Bird book Lover Revealed

Source: Lover Revealed

World, Strong

“When your desires are strong enough, you will appear to possess superhuman powers to achieve.”

Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American author

Strong, Appearance

“Power, no matter how well-intentioned, tends to cause suffering. Love, being vulnerable, absorbs it. In a point of convergence on a hill called Calvary, God renounced the one for the sake of the other.”

Philip Yancey book The Jesus I Never Knew

Source: The Jesus I Never Knew

Love, God, Suffering

“All of us have our own inner fears, beliefs, opinions. These inner assumptions rule and govern our lives. A suggestion has no power in and of itself. its power arises from the fact that you accept it mentally.”

Joseph Murphy The Power of Your Subconscious Mind

Source: The Power of Your Subconscious Mind

Fear

“The people who must never have power are the humorless. To impossible certainties of rectitude they ally tedium and uniformity.”

Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) British American author and journalist

Source: Arguably: Selected Essays

People

“Never before did I realize that mental illness could have the aspect of power, power. Think of it: perhaps the more insane a man is, the more powerful he could become. Hitler an example. Fair makes the old brain reel, doesn't it?”

Ken Kesey book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Source: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Thinking

“We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

God, Personality

“In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme. --Aristotle”

Cornel West (1953) African-American philosopher and political/civil rights activist

Source: The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto

Democracy

“The power of women! I've never felt so full of mysterious power. Men are a joke.
We're so weak physically, so helpless with things. Still, even today. But we're stronger than they are. We can stand their cruelty. They can't stand ours.”

John Fowles book The Collector

Source: The Collector

Women, Men

“Readers understand that the books celebrate female power. In the romance novel, the woman always wins. With courage, intelligence and gentleness she brings the most dangerous creature on the earth, the human male, to his knees.”

Jayne Ann Krentz (1948) American novelist

Books, Intelligence, Courage, Understanding

“Grace is the pleasure of God to magnify the worth of God by giving sinners the right and power to delight in God without obscuring the glory of God.”

John Piper (1946) American writer

God, Pleasure

“No story has power, nor will it last, unless we feel in ourselves that it is true and true of us.”

John Steinbeck book East of Eden

Source: East of Eden

Feeling

“It seemed to travel with her, to sweep her aloft in the power of song, so that she was moving in glory among the stars, and for a moment she, too, felt that the words Darkness and Light had no meaning, and only this melody was real.”

Madeleine L'Engle book A Wrinkle in Time

Source: A Wrinkle in Time

Travel, Star, Light

“It is not wise to give something old and powerful something they care about. And I am very old.”

Patricia Briggs book Fair Game

Source: Fair Game

“Fear begets fear. Power begets power. I willed myself to beget power. And it wasn't long before I actually wasn't afraid.”

Cheryl Strayed book Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Source: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Fear

“The greatest create of power you have on earth, whether you are an angel, a spirit, a man or woman or child is to help others.”

Anne Rice book Servant of the Bones

Source: Servant of the Bones

Angels, Help

“Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.”

Paulo Freire (1921–1997) educator and philosopher

Source: The Politics of Education (1985), Chapter 10, page 122

“at the center of every fairy tale lay a truth that gave the story its power.”

Susan Wiggs (1958) American writer

Source: The You I Never Knew

Truth

“I told him. He inclined his head. we said, and it was a vow far more powerful and binding than any ring or piece of paper.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

Source: Feversong

“There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.”

John Adams (1735–1826) 2nd President of the United States

Notes for an oration at Braintree (Spring 1772)
1770s

Men

“I’m sorry that your mystical, godlike powers do not instantly work as you would like them to.”

Brandon Sanderson book Words of Radiance

Source: Words of Radiance

“The impetus to grow and live intensely is so powerful in me I cannot resist it. I will work, I will love my husband, but I will fulfill myself.”

Anaïs Nin (1903–1977) writer of novels, short stories, and erotica

Source: Henry and June: From "A Journal of Love"--The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin

Love

“Doughboy," I said. "What is this scroll?"
"A spell lost in time!" he pronounced. "Ancient words of tremendous power!"
"Well?" I demanded. "Does it tell how to defeat Set?"
"Better! The title reads: The Book of Summoning Fruit Bats!”

Rick Riordan book The Red Pyramid

Source: The Red Pyramid

Books, Time, Reading

“Words and magic were in the beginning one and the same thing, and even today words retain much of their magical power.”

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian neurologist known as the founding father of psychoanalysis

Source: Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis

“Mastery of language affords remarkable power.”

Frantz Fanon (1925–1961) Martiniquais writer, psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary

“Cleopatra stood at one of the most dangerous intersections in history; that of women and power. Clever women, Euripides had warned hundreds of years earlier, were dangerous.”

Stacy Schiff (1961) American female Author, Pulitzer Prize winner

Source: Cleopatra: A Life

Women, History

“I know too well how dangerous hope can be, how it grows and sometimes dies, taking its host with it. It's more powerful than anything Dr. Fibs keeps in his labs, more precious than all the secrets inside Sublevel Two.”

Ally Carter book Only the Good Spy Young

Source: Only the Good Spy Young

Secret, Hope

“Water is powerful. It can wash away earth, put out fire, and even destroy iron.”

Arthur Golden book Memoirs of a Geisha

Source: Memoirs of a Geisha

Water

“The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.”

James Madison (1751–1836) 4th president of the United States (1809 to 1817)

As paraphrased in The Great Quotations‎ (1960) by George Seldes, p. 460; this paraphrase has for some time become the most widely quoted form of Madison's statement.
1780s, The Debates in the Federal Convention (1787)

Men, Truth

“Worry drains the mind of its power and, sooner or later, it injures the soul”

Robin S. Sharma (1965) Canadian self help writer

Source: The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams Reaching Your Destiny

Soul

“I stopped believing there was a power of good and a power of evil that were outside us. And I came to believe that good and evil are names for what people do, not for what they are.”

Philip Pullman book The Amber Spyglass

Source: The Amber Spyglass

People, Evil

“We do not need more intellectual power, we need more spiritual power. We do not need more of the things that are seen, we need more of the things that are unseen.”

Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) American politician, 30th president of the United States (in office from 1923 to 1929)

“and the world we live in will be either better or worse, depending on whether we become better or worse. And that's where the power of love comes in. Because when we love, we always strive to become better than we are.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

Source: The Alchemist

Love, World, Dependency

“Oh, London is a man’s town, there’s power in the air;
And Paris is a woman’s town, with flowers in her hair;
And it’s sweet to dream in Venice, and it’s great to study Rome;
But when it comes to living, there is no place like home.”

Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933) American diplomat

Variant: Oh, London is a man's town, there's power in the air;
And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair;
And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study Rome;
But when it comes to living there is no place like home.
Source: America for Me (1909), Lines 9-12.

Dreams, Home, Flowers, Study

“The source of sexual power is curiosity, passion. You are watching its little flame die of asphyxiation.”

Anaïs Nin (1903–1977) writer of novels, short stories, and erotica

Source: A Cafe in Space: The Anais Nin Literary Journal, Volume 3

Passion

“Nothing is stable in the realm of power, and even closest of friends can be transformed into the worst of enemies.”

Robert Greene (1959) American author

“She thought of Aziza's stutter, and of what Aziza had said earlier about fractures and powerful collisions deep down and how sometimes all we see on the surface is a slight tremor.”

Khaled Hosseini book A Thousand Splendid Suns

Source: A Thousand Splendid Suns

“All I want is a warm bed and a kind word and unlimited power.”

Ashleigh Brilliant (1933) American author and cartoonist

Source: All I Want is a Warm Bed and a Kind Word and Unlimited Power: Even More Brilliant Thoughts

“Statistics show that most mortals sell their souls for five reasons: sex, money, power, revenge, and love. In that order.”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Source: Succubus Blues

Love, Money, Sex, Soul

“To achieve, you need thought. You have to know what you are doing and that's real power.”

Ayn Rand (1905–1982) Russian-American novelist and philosopher

“I watched them, thinking that little girls who make their mothers live grow up to be such powerful women.”

Elizabeth Gilbert book Eat, Pray, Love

Source: Eat, Pray, Love

Women, Girl, Thinking

“Never once in my life did I ask God for success or wisdom or power or fame. I asked for wonder, and he gave it to me.”

Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–1972) Polish-American Conservative Judaism Rabbi

Life, Wisdom, God, Success

“There's one tiny little gap in the universe left, just about to close. And it takes a lot of power to send this projection. I'm in orbit around a supernova. I'm burning up a sun just to say goodbye.”

Russell T. Davies (1963) Screenwriter, former executive producer of Doctor Who

Source: Doctor Who: The Shooting Scripts

Universe, Sun

“There is no greater power on this earth than story.”

Libba Bray book The Diviners

Source: The Diviners

“I don't want power. I just object to idiots having power over me.”

Lois McMaster Bujold Vorkosigan Saga

Source: Vorkosigan Saga, Barrayar (1991), Chapter 18 (p. 549)

“When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young.”

Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American author and poet

Life, World, Literature, Sense

“Know that ever about you stands the reality of love, and each moment you have the power to transform your world by what you have learned.”

Richard Bach (1936) American spiritual writer

Source: One

Love, World, Reality, Learning

“The most powerful single force in the world today is neither Communism nor Capitalism, neither the H-bomb nor the guided missile -- it is man's eternal desire to be free and independent.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

World, Communication

“I thought physics could be done to the glory of God, till I saw there wasn’t any God at all and that physics was more interesting anyway. The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that’s all.”

Philip Pullman book The Amber Spyglass

Source: The Amber Spyglass

God, Religion

“I imagine Johnny Mathis hates Bin Laden as much as I do, but could Johnny agree Bin Laden had a better speechwriter than Bush? "Axis of Evil"? Come on. "A swimmer in the ocean does not fear the rain" is much more powerful propaganda. Poetic, even.”

John Waters (1946) American filmmaker, actor, comedian and writer

Source: Role Models

Hate, Fear, Imagination, Evil

“With the tools of democracy, democracy was murdered and lawlessness made "legal." Raw power ruled, and its only real goal was to destroy all other powers besides itself.”

Eric Metaxas (1963) American journalist

Source: Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

Democracy

“I don't know what frightens me more, the power that crushes us, or our endless ability to endure it.”

Gregory David Roberts book Shantaram

Source: Shantaram

“That's what we all want, isn't it? Power without price.”

Kelley Armstrong book The Summoning

Source: The Summoning

“It didn't take a trauma to make you wear a mask. It didn't take your parents getting shot… or cosmic rays or a power ring… Just the perfect combination of loneliness and despair.”

Mark Millar Kick-Ass

Source: Kick-Ass

Parent, Loneliness, Perfection, Despair

“It is a common sentence that knowledge is power; but who hath duly considered or set forth the power of ignorance? Knowledge slowly builds up what ignorance in an hour pulls down.”

George Eliot book Daniel Deronda

Source: Daniel Deronda

Knowledge

“The bravest and most noble are not those who take up arms, but those who are decent despite everything; who improve what it is in their power to improve, but do not imagine themselves to be saviours. In their humble struggle is true heroism.”

Theodore Dalrymple (1949) English doctor and writer

Imagination

“The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

1940s

Thinking, Change

“Percy is the most powerful demigod I've ever met. No offense to you guys but it's true.”

Rick Riordan The Mark of Athena

Source: The Mark of Athena

Guy

“Power is neither male or female.”

Michael Crichton (1942–2008) American author, screenwriter, film producer

Source: Disclosure

“There is a moral obligation, I think, not to ally oneself with power against the powerless.”

Chinua Achebe (1930–2013) Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic

Source: There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra

Thinking

“Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species -- man -- acquired significant power to alter the nature of the world.”

Rachel Carson book Silent Spring

Source: Silent Spring

World, Nature, Time

“Just what we need," moaned Holly. "Artemis Fowl with magical powers.”

Eoin Colfer (1965) Irish author of children's books

Source: The Lost Colony

“Unity increases power.”

Joyce Meyer (1943) American author and speaker

“Al was cruel, vindictive, angry, elegant, powerful. He gave me strength, he gave me wisdom, not only about magic, but about myself. He was a lot like Trent, only harsher around the edges.”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Source: Ever After

Wisdom

“The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright

“We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

Education, Intelligence

“This is the power of a kiss:
It does not have the power to kill you. But it has the power to bring you to life.”

David Levithan (1972) American author and editor

Source: Two Boys Kissing

Life, Kiss

“It is within our power not to make a judgement about something, and so not disturb our minds; for nothing in itself possesses the power to form our judgements.”

Marcus Aurelius book Meditations

Source: Meditations

“Schuyler put a gentle hand on Abbadon's feathered extensions, feeling the majestic power underneath their silky weight. She had been frightened once, to see him in this light, but now that she saw his terrifying face, she found it beautiful.”

Melissa de la Cruz book Misguided Angel

Source: Misguided Angel

Beauty, Feeling, Light

“Power power, everybody like wants power”

Anthony Burgess book A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange
Variant: Power, power, everybody like wants power

“Did you use a chainsaw?" Joey said. "I seem to recall you like chainsawa."
"There wasn't a power outlet." Clay turned to me. "That's what I want for Father's Day, darling. A gas powered chainsaw.”

Kelley Armstrong book Frostbitten

Source: Frostbitten

“Oh while I live, to be the ruler of life, not a slave, to meet life as a powerful conqueror, and nothing exterior to me will ever take command of me”

Walt Whitman (1819–1892) American poet, essayist and journalist

Life

“Take a leap of faith and see that these troubled waters have no power over you unless you give it to them, and even then they lie.”

Ted Dekker (1962) American writer

Source: Water Walker: The Full Story

Lie, Faith, Water

“I have been seized by the power of a great affection.”

Brennan Manning book The Ragamuffin Gospel

p. 181 https://books.google.com/books?id=sUTZCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA181 <br class="br">1990s, The Ragamuffin Gospel (1990) <br class="br">Source: The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out

“Yawns are not the only infectious things out there besides germs.

Giggles can spread from person to person.

So can blushing.

But maybe the most powerful infectious thing is the act of speaking the truth.”

Vera Nazarian (1966) American writer

Truth, Personality

“He couldn't even tell whether he was angry or contrite, whether it was forgiveness he wanted or the power to forgive.”

Richard Yates book Revolutionary Road

Source: Revolutionary Road

Forgiveness

“Everything is fine and bright. Day must follow every night. My power keeps me safe from harm. The Goddess holds me in her arms.”

Cate Tiernan (1961) American novelist

Source: Full Circle

Night

“Class is entirely intangible, and the way it affects things isn't subject to scientific analysis, and it's not supposed to be real but it's pervasive and powerful. See; just like magic.”

Jo Walton book Among Others

Source: Among Others

Way

“You don't know about falling off cliffs, Preppie,' she said. 'You never fell off one in your goddamn life.'

'Yeah,' I said, recovering the power of speech. 'When I met you.”

Erich Segal book Love Story

Source: Love Story

Life

“Now that I knew fear, I also knew it was not permanent. As powerful as it was, its grip on me would loosen. It would pass.”

Louise Erdrich book The Round House

Source: The Round House

Fear

“The only thing that guarantees an open-ended collaboration among human beings, the only thing that guarantees that this project is truly open-ended, is a willingness to have our beliefs and behaviors modified by the power of conversation.”

Sam Harris (1967) American author, philosopher and neuroscientist

Behavior

“Only library books speak with such wordless eloquence of the power good stories hold over us.”

Stephen King book 'Salem's Lot

Source: 'Salem's Lot

Books

“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge —
That myth is more potent than history.
I believe that dreams are more powerful than facts —
That hope always triumphs over experience —
That laughter is the only cure for grief.
And I believe that love is stronger than death.”

Robert Fulghum book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

"Credo" at his official website http://robertfulghum.com/index.php/fulghumweb/credo/; this may be partly influenced by remarks of Albert Einstein in "What Life Means to Einstein: An Interview by George Sylvester Viereck" The Saturday Evening Post (26 October 1929): I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. <br class="br">Source: All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Love, Death, Dreams, Hope