--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Authority, when first detecting chaos at…" description: "\"Authority, when first detecting chaos at its heels, will entertain the vilest schemes to save its orderly facade.\" — Alan Moore" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61e/alan-moore-583_authority_authority-when-first-detecting-chaos-at_1666139.jpg" --- # Authority, when first detecting chaos at its heels, will… ![“Authority, when first detecting chaos at its heels, will entertain the vilest schemes to save its orderly facade.” quote by Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61e/alan-moore-583_authority_authority-when-first-detecting-chaos-at_1666139.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61e/alan-moore-583_authority_authority-when-first-detecting-chaos-at_1666139.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61e/alan-moore-583_authority_authority-when-first-detecting-chaos-at_1666139.jpg) > “Authority, when first detecting chaos at its heels, will entertain the vilest schemes to save its orderly facade.” [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Authority, when threatened, may adopt extreme measures to preserve order, revealing its vulnerability and hypocrisy. **In simple terms:** Power can become corrupt when scared. Key Takeaway Question the motives behind strict control. Themes power control corruption Mood cautionary critical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - government response - crisis management - public policy Key Concepts political theory social order Questions to Reflect On - What are the costs of sacrificing liberty for security? - When does order become oppression? A Different Perspective Such tactics can erode trust and freedom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) [Chaos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chaos/) [Entertain Vilest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entertain-vilest-808869/) [Facade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facade/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Heels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heels/) [Orderly Facade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orderly-facade-808870/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Schemes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schemes/) [Vilest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vilest-808871/) [Vilest Schemes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vilest-schemes-808868/) ## Related quotes > [The tongue is the vile slave's vilest part.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/the-tongue-is-the-vile-slave-s-vilest-part/) [Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/) > [The vilest abortionist is he who attempts to mould a child's character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-vilest-abortionist-is-he-who-attempts-to-mould-a-child-s-character/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The ape, vilest of beasts, how like to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintus-ennius/the-ape-vilest-of-beasts-how-like-to-us/) [Quintus Ennius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintus-ennius/) > [“Bah! You want to hear the vilest thing a man’s done and you want him to be a hero at the same time!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/bah-you-want-to-hear-the-vilest-thing-a-man-s-done-and-you-want-him/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [It came to Mr. Blood, as he trudged forward under the laden apple-trees on that fragrant, delicious July morning, that man—as he had long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-sabatini/it-came-to-mr-blood-as-he-trudged-forward-under-the-laden-apple-trees/) [Rafael Sabatini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafael-sabatini/) > [In every age the vilest specimens of human nature are to be found among demagogues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/in-every-age-the-vilest-specimens-of-human-nature-are-to-be-found/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Of all mechanics, of all servile handycrafts-men, a gamester is the vilest. 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It's not about facade, elevation, making image, making money. My passion is creating space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-zumthor/i-think-space-architectural-space-is-my-thing-it-s-not-about-facade/) [Peter Zumthor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-zumthor/) > [Light-skinned privilege is largely through a white lens. It is exploited by oppressive forces... It was always a facade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendrick-sampson/light-skinned-privilege-is-largely-through-a-white-lens-it-is/) [Kendrick Sampson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendrick-sampson/) > [A man is the facade of a temple wherein all wisdom and all good abide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-is-the-facade-of-a-temple-wherein-all-wisdom-and-all-good-abide/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [When you really need help, people will respond. Sincerity means dropping the image facade and showing a willingness to be vulnerable. Tell it the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-canfield/when-you-really-need-help-people-will-respond-sincerity-means/) [Jack Canfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-canfield/) > [“A man's work reveals him. In social intercourse he gives you the surface that he wishes the world to accept, but in his book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/a-man-s-work-reveals-him-in-social-intercourse-he-gives-you-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) ## More by Alan Moore > [I think that storytelling and creation are very close to what the center of what magic is about. I think not just for me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/i-think-that-storytelling-and-creation-are-very-close-to-what-the/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [To some degree Satanism is purely a kind of disease of Christianity. You've got to really be Christian to believe in Satan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/to-some-degree-satanism-is-purely-a-kind-of-disease-of-christianity/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [There has been a rather unpleasant sensibility apparent in Frank Miller's work for quite a long time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/there-has-been-a-rather-unpleasant-sensibility-apparent-in-frank/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [I felt, if I'm going to react I might as well over react.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/i-felt-if-i-m-going-to-react-i-might-as-well-over-react/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [“Come, dry your eyes, for you are LIFE, rarer than a quark and unpredictable beyond the dreams of Heisenberg; the clay in which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/come-dry-your-eyes-for-you-are-life-rarer-than-a-quark-and/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [Now everything is wonderful and hazardous and nothing's hypothetical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/now-everything-is-wonderful-and-hazardous-and-nothing-s-hypothetical/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [In many ways, my entire graphic novel career was a long diversion. Originally, all I wanted to do was to be an underground cartoonist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/in-many-ways-my-entire-graphic-novel-career-was-a-long-diversion/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [I was kind of a selfish child, who always wanted things his way, and I've kind of taken that over into my relationship with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/i-was-kind-of-a-selfish-child-who-always-wanted-things-his-way-and-i/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [Magic is a state of mind. It is often portrayed as very black and gothic, and that is because certain practitioners played that up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/magic-is-a-state-of-mind-it-is-often-portrayed-as-very-black-and/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [“Above, great constellations wheeled to which our bonfire sparks ascended in their tiny mimicry”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/above-great-constellations-wheeled-to-which-our-bonfire-sparks/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [“You're my only remaining link to the world”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/you-re-my-only-remaining-link-to-the-world/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/nothing-ends-adrian-nothing-ever-ends/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [On the one occasion where I did try writing a screenplay, I found the rewriting just unendurable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/on-the-one-occasion-where-i-did-try-writing-a-screenplay-i-found-the/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [“The clothes you're wearing, the room, the house, the city that you're in. Everything in it started out in the human imagination. Your lives,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/the-clothes-you-re-wearing-the-room-the-house-the-city-that-you-re-in/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) [Explore all 460 Alan Moore quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) ## More Authority quotes > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-believe-in-competitions-between-artists-this-is-insane-who/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [Islam never differentiates between men and women as regards political rights and puts them on an equal footing. However, even if a woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusuf-al-qaradawi/islam-never-differentiates-between-men-and-women-as-regards-political/) [Yusuf al-Qaradawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusuf-al-qaradawi/) > [I think people need to be comfortable questioning the authority of a doctor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susannah-cahalan/i-think-people-need-to-be-comfortable-questioning-the-authority-of-a/) [Susannah Cahalan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susannah-cahalan/) > [At a distance, we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/at-a-distance-we-cannot-conceive-of-the-authority-of-a-despot-who/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/throughout-human-history-as-our-species-has-faced-the-frightening/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [“I'm of the age and immaturity level that I cannot give you my respect solely because you are older or ranked higher on an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-goros/i-m-of-the-age-and-immaturity-level-that-i-cannot-give-you-my-respect/) [Erica Goros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-goros/) > [In the end theologians are jealous of science, for they are aware that it has greater authority than do their own ways of finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-a-coyne/in-the-end-theologians-are-jealous-of-science-for-they-are-aware-that/) [Jerry A. Coyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-a-coyne/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Miracles are like candles lit up until the sun rises, and then blown out. Therefore, I am amused when I hear sects and churches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/miracles-are-like-candles-lit-up-until-the-sun-rises-and-then-blown/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [The execution was set for the 29th of March, at nine in the morning. This delay was due to a desire on the part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-execution-was-set-for-the-29th-of-march-at-nine-in-the-morning/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/i-started-with-the-belief-that-every-person-who-came-to-the/) [Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/) > [The rationale which accompanies that imposition of male authority euphemistically referred to as 'the battle of the sexes' bears a certain resemblance to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/the-rationale-which-accompanies-that-imposition-of-male-authority/) [Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/) > [“We are at the mercy of whoever wields authority over the things we either desire or detest. 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Hamas has a vision and a program, and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ismail-haniyeh/the-victory-of-hamas-is-not-only-based-on-the-corruption-of-the/) [Ismail Haniyeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ismail-haniyeh/) [Browse all 4,003 Authority quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Authority, when first detecting chaos at its heels, will entertain the vilest schemes to save its orderly facade.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alan Moore" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/authority-when-first-detecting-chaos-at-its-heels-will-entertain-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Authority" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/authority-when-first-detecting-chaos-at-its-heels-will-entertain-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61e/alan-moore-583_authority_authority-when-first-detecting-chaos-at_1666139.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61e/alan-moore-583_authority_authority-when-first-detecting-chaos-at_1666139.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61e/alan-moore-583_authority_authority-when-first-detecting-chaos-at_1666139.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Authority, when first detecting chaos at its heels, will entertain the vilest schemes to save its orderly…” — Alan Moore", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alan Moore", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Authority, when first detecting chaos at...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/authority-when-first-detecting-chaos-at-its-heels-will-entertain-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/authority-when-first-detecting-chaos-at-its-heels-will-entertain-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```