124 Quotes About Authoritarianism

Off goes the head of the king, and tyranny gives way to freedom. The change seems abysmal. Then, bit by bit, the face of freedom hardens, and by and by it is the old face of tyranny. Then another cycle, and another. But under the play of all these opposites there is something fundamental and permanent — the basic delusion that men may be governed and yet be free.

Contending with fanaticism does not mean destroying all fanatics, but rather cautiously handling the little fanatic who hides, more or less, inside each of our souls. It also means ridiculing, just a little, our own convictions; being curious; and trying to take a peek, from time to time, not only through our neighbor's window but, more important, at the reality viewed from that window, which will necessarily be different from the one seen through our own.

Authoritarians are frustrated authors. Frustrated authors not of books but of their own lives. They are soulless, unimaginative and nihilistic cowards afraid of their own and other peoples freedom.

When political leaders set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become more important. It is hard to subvert a rule-of-law state without lawyers, or to hold show trials without judges. Authoritarians need obedient civil servants, and concentration camp directors seek businessmen interested in cheap labor.

Treachery, disloyalty, cruelty, tyranny ... are our ordinary vices. - Montaigne, "Of Cannibals

In every age it has been the tyrant, the oppressor and the exploiter who has wrapped himself in the cloak of patriotism, or religion, or both to deceive and overawe the People.

Authority is not a power, it is a responsibility.

Another person's thoughts about you are outside of your jurisdiction; you have no authority.

All realities are mental constructs, for all realities are created in the neurons of the brain of human, so either you live in a reality created by some power-mongering, authoritarian, nationalist pig with no vision for a global world, or you rise and start building an actual conscientious world for the countless generations to come.