No human being, however great, or powerful, was ever so free as a fish.

I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.

To be great is to be misunderstood.

Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.

Freedom from effort in the present merely means that there has been effort stored up in the past.

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.

We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed.

Smiling makes me feel weak and not in control and not powerful and small.

We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Many Communist government officials have a rigid, dictatorial power, but they live in constant suspicion and fear of anything that might undermine the power they have.

Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts… perhaps the fear of a loss of power.

There never was any heart truly great and generous, that was not also tender and compassionate.

It is more agreeable to have the power to give than to receive.

It was very lucky for me as a writer that I studied the physical sciences rather than English. I wrote for my own amusement. There was no kindly English professor to tell me for my own good how awful my writing really was. And there was no professor with the power to order me what to read, either.

Young people these days don’t trust anything at all. They want to be free.

The distinguishing sign of slavery is to have a price, and to be bought for it.

Diplomacy: the art of restraining power.

All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.

Fame and power are the objects of all men. Even their partial fruition is gained by very few; and that, too, at the expense of social pleasure, health, conscience, life.

He who has great power should use it lightly.

I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion.

Human beings may well be unable to break free of the dictatorship of greed that spreads like a miasma over the world, but no longer will we be an inarticulate and ignorant humanity, confused by our enslavement to superior cruelty and weaponry.

In Europe first and now in America, elected men have taken it upon themselves to indebt their people to create an atmosphere of dependency. And why? For their own selfish need to increase their own personal power.

The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need.

My experience with power, you can maintain it, or you get it taken from you. You get you some newfound power and go crazy, and it get taken from you quick.

If you were to ask me to choose between democratic values and wealth, power, prosperity and fame, I will very easily and without any doubt choose democratic values.

I have feelings too. I am still human. All I want is to be loved, for myself and for my talent.

Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.

Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root.

Never let your zeal outrun your charity. The former is but human, the latter is divine.

Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment.

Look, freedom is an overwhelming American notion. The idea that we want to see the world, the peoples of the world free is something that all of us subscribe to.

This young century will be liberty’s century.

One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.

I’m grateful for the opportunities God gave me to minister to people in high places; people in power have spiritual and personal needs like everyone else, and often they have no one to talk to.

Men freely believe that which they desire.

Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does nature because in her inventions nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous.

Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.

We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free.

What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.

A great thing can only be done by a great person; and they do it without effort.

A retentive memory may be a good thing, but the ability to forget is the true token of greatness.

If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.

Mystical references to society and its programs to help may warm the hearts of the gullible but what it really means is putting more power in the hands of bureaucrats.

Men’s actions are too strong for them. Show me a man who has acted, and who has not been the victim and slave of his action.

Man, so long as he remains free, has no more constant and agonizing anxiety than find as quickly as possible someone to worship.

Free people, remember this maxim: we may acquire liberty, but it is never recovered if it is once lost.

It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.

There’s something about death that is comforting. The thought that you could die tomorrow frees you to appreciate your life now.

There isn’t a single player I would pay to watch. You can say Thierry Henry, he’s a fabulous striker, with pace and power, but a great entertainer needs to have charisma, too. Does he have charisma? No.

Man is only great when he acts from passion.

There is no necessity to separate the monarch from the mob; all authority is equally bad.

The spread of civilisation may be likened to a fire; first, a feeble spark, next a flickering flame, then a mighty blaze, ever increasing in speed and power.

Punk is musical freedom. It’s saying, doing and playing what you want. In Webster’s terms, ‚nirvana‘ means freedom from pain, suffering and the external world, and that’s pretty close to my definition of Punk Rock.

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it.

Let a man get up and say, Behold, this is the truth, and instantly I perceive a sandy cat filching a piece of fish in the background. Look, you have forgotten the cat, I say.

Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.

Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.

Excess of liberty, whether it lies in state or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery.

If society fits you comfortably enough, you call it freedom.