Ten Quotes on Power

"Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though for one year, never can willingly abandon it. They may be distressed in the midst of all their power; but they will never look to anything but power for their relief." -Edmund Burke, Political Philosopher (1729-1797)

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"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." -Frederick Douglas, Black Abolitionist, Editor, Renaissance Man (1818-1895)

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"A friend in power is a friend lost." -Henry Brooks Adams, U.S. historian (1838-1918)

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"Power only tires those who do not have it." -Giulio Andreotti, Former Italian Prime Minister (1919- )

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"No Government can be long secure without a formidable Opposition." -Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister (1804-1881)

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"A passion for politics stems usually from an insatiable need, either for power or for friendship and adulation, or a combination of both." -Fawn M. Brodie, Biographer (1915-1981)

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"If you must break the law, do it to seize power; in all other cases observe it." -Julius Caesar, Roman General, Statesman, and Writer (100-44 BC)

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"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, Brazilian Educator and Philosopher (1921-1997)

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"Power doesn't corrupt people, people corrupt power." -William Gaddis, American Author (1922-1998)

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"Whenever there is authority, there is a natural inclination to disobedience." -Thomas C. Halliburton, Canadian Jurist and Humorist (1796-1865)

Source: William B. Whitman (ed.), "The Quotable Politician"