Quotes · Skopia

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Topic·Political power✕clear

Political literature4 quotes

This leads to a debate: is it better to be loved than feared, or the reverse? The answer is that it is desirable to be both, but because it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer for a prince to be feared than loved, if he is to fail in one of the two. — Niccolo Machiavelli · 1532 Where force is necessary, there it must be applied boldly, decisively and completely. But one must know the limitations of force; one must know when to blend force with a maneuver, a blow with an agreement. — Leon Trotsky · 1932 It is for us... To inquire constantly and persistently, when theories of national power or states' rights are propounded: "What interests are behind them and to whose advantage will changes or the maintenance of old forms accrue?" By refusing to do this we become victims of history-clay in the hands of its makers. — Charles A. Beard · 1935 All political power is primarily an illusion... Mirrors and blue smoke, beautiful blue smoke rolling over the surface of highly polished mirrors, first a thin veil of blue smoke, then a thick cloud, that suddenly dissolves into wisps of blue smoke, the mirrors catching it all, bouncing it back and forth. — Jimmy Breslin · 1975

Philosophical literature1 quote

This leads to a debate: is it better to be loved than feared, or the reverse? The answer is that it is desirable to be both, but because it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer for a prince to be feared than loved, if he is to fail in one of the two. — Niccolo Machiavelli · 1532