Imagination is the mightiest despot.

At a distance, we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.

— Stendhal

In times of anarchy one may seem a despot in order to be a saviour.

— Victor de Riqueti, marquis de Mirabeau

Power is the test. Some, once they have it, are content to buy the show of liking, and punish those who withhold it; then…

— Mary Renault

If it's a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed.

— Khalil Gibran

Peace /n/: A rare state which has only existed when a despot has been fearsome or strong enough to impose it. The image of…

— Boyd Rice

The great conductor is always a despot by temperament and intractable in his ways. ... The artist is obliged to keep his laughter and…

— Nadia Boulanger

A country governed by a despot is an inverted cone.

— Samuel Johnson

A free and open Internet is a despot's worst enemy.

— Jay Samit

Fashion, n. A despot whom the wise ridicule and obey.

— Ambrose Bierce

Nothing is more durable than the dynasty of Doubt; for he reigns in the hearts of all his people, but gives satisfaction to none…

— Charles Caleb Colton

Every State is a despotism, be the despot one or many.

— Max Stirner

There are three kinds of despots. There is the despot who tyrannizes over the body. There is the despot who tyrannizes over the soul.…

— Oscar Wilde

The mightiest love was granted him Love that does not expect to be loved.

— Jorge Luis Borges

Prayer is the mightiest weapon that God has placed in our hands.

— J. C. Ryle

The mightiest lever known to the world: imagination.

— William Wordsworth