I hold it a blasphemy to say that a man ought not to fight against authority: there is no great religion and no great freedom that has not done it, in the beginning.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
Authority founded on injustice is never of long duration.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
The people are hungry: It is because those in authority eat up too much in taxes.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
All authority belongs to the people.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
He who is firmly seated in authority soon learns to think security, not progress, the highest lesson of statecraft.
—James Russell Lowell (1819–91) American Poet, Critic
A lightweight, by definition, is a man who cannot assert his authority over the national press, cannot manipulate reporters, cannot finesse questions, prevent leaks or command a professional public relations operation.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
I am a liberated woman. And I do believe if a woman does equal work she should be paid equal money. But personally I am feminine and I do like male authority to lean on.
—Julie Andrews (b.1935) British Actress, Singer
Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.
—Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) French General, Statesman
Authority poisons everybody who takes authority on himself.
—Golda Meir (1898–1978) Israeli Head of State
The insolence of authority is endeavoring to substitute money for ideas.
—Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) American Architect
In order to be respected, authority has got to be respectable.
—Tom Robbins (1932–2025) American Novelist known for Seriocomic Fiction
But in a turbulent environment the change is so widespread that it just routes around any kind of central authority. So it is best to manage the bottom-up change rather than try to institute it from the top down.
—Kevin Kelly (b.1952) American Founding Executive Editor of Wired Magazine
The being cannot be termed rational or virtuous, who obeys any authority, but that of reason.
—Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–97) English Writer, Feminist
Often it’s better to stay in the background. Sometimes it’s one’s duty to show some spiritual pride. But a spiritual authority needs neither this nor that. He simply is.
—Hans Taeger
Move decisions out to the Cabinet and agencies. Strengthen them by moving responsibility, authority, and accountability their direction.
—Donald Rumsfeld (1932–2021) U.S. Secretary of Defense
Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Architect
If you look to lead, invest at least 40% of your time managing yourself – your ethics, character, principles, purpose, motivation, and conduct. Invest at least 30% managing those with authority over you, and 15% managing your peers.
—Dee Hock (1920–2022) American Businessman
Football is like life—it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority.
—Vince Lombardi, Jr. (b.1942) American Lawyer, Politician, Motivational Speaker
Let us come to the philosophers, whose authority is of greater weight, and their judgment more to be relied on, because they are believed to have paid attention, not to matters of fiction, but to the investigation of the truth.
—Lactantius (c.250–c.320) North African Apologist Writer
The single most important thing that anyone can do in this world is to marry the right person, in the right place, with the right authority.
—Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) American Mormon Religious Leader
But constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far as it will go.
—Montesquieu (1689–1755) French Political Philosopher, Jurist
There is no necessity to separate the monarch from the mob; all authority is equally bad.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
The strongest bulwark of authority is uniformity; the least divergence from it is the greatest crime.
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940) Lithuanian-American Anarchist, Feminist
Death is the sanction of everything the story-teller can tell. He has borrowed his authority from death.
—Walter Benjamin (1892–1940) German Literary and Marxist Critic
The country and the Congress were misled into war. I regret that we were not given the truth; as I said more than a year ago, knowing what we know now, I would not have gone to war in Iraq. And knowing now the full measure of the Bush Administration’s duplicity and incompetence, I doubt there are many members of Congress who would give them the authority they abused so badly. I know I would not.
—John Kerry (b.1943) American Attorney, Politician, Diplomat
Authority intoxicates, And makes mere sots of magistrates; The fumes of it invade the brain, And make men giddy, proud and vain: By this the fool commands the wise, The noble-with the base complies, The sot assumes the rule of wit, And cowards make t.
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902) British Victorian Novelist, Essayist, Critic
Admittedly, scientific authority is not distributed evenly throughout the body of scientists; some distinguished members of the profession predominate over others of a more junior standing.
—Michael Polanyi (1891–1976) Hungarian Polymath, Chemist
Obedience to lawful authority is the foundation of manly character.
—Robert E. Lee (1807–70) Confederate General during American Civil War
I believe in a lively disrespect for most forms of authority.
—Rita Mae Brown (b.1944) American Writer, Feminist
Truth is the secret of eloquence and of virtue, the basis of moral authority; it is the highest summit of art and of life.
—Henri Frederic Amiel (1821–81) Swiss Moral Philosopher, Poet, Critic
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