Robert Shea Quotes

26 quotes in 433 categories

• The key element in tragedy is that heroes and heroines are destroyed by that which appears to be their greatest strength.
• Of all human inventions the organization, a machine constructed of people performing interdependent functions, is the most powerful.
• Even while we busily attend meetings, contribute money and perform our assigned tasks, we suspect that we may be helping to create a force that…
• To reject even one major tenet of the religion or to violate one major rule of behavior is enough to get one kicked out -…
• The Gnostics were rapidly driven out of business by the hierarchical orthodox Christians.
• You are attached to what you attack.
• But instead I usually say that, though it may surprise them, I too believe in the necessity of organization.
• Just as predatory animals follow a similar general design and behave in similar ways, so organizations, especially those in competition with one another, must follow…
• Military organization, like religious organization, can be seen as a paradigm of organization in general.
• Indeed, one of the most successful and influential religious organizations in history, the Society of Jesus, was consciously modeled along military lines by its founder,…
• That the more authoritarian organizations survive and prevail goes generally unnoticed because people focus on the objectives of organizations, which are many and varied, rather…
• But the more an organization succeeds and prospers, the more it is likely to be diverted from its original ideals, principles and purposes.
• Every combination of two or more human beings has both a useful aspect and a political aspect.
• Because the better an organization is at fulfilling its purpose, the more it attracts people who see the organization as an opportunity to advance themselves.
• The ability to get ahead in an organization is simply another talent, like the ability to play chess, paint pictures, do coronary bypass operations or…
• It often happens that when a person possesses a particular ability to an extraordinary degree, nature makes up for it by leaving him or her…
• As such people achieve influence within the organization, whenever there is a conflict between their own interest and the interest of the organization, their interests…
• Anyone who seeks power wants absolute power.
• This whole phenomenon of the diversion of organizations from their purposes and ideals does not seem very serious when the scum rise to the top…
• One simple way to keep organizations from becoming cancerous might be to rotate all jobs on a regular, frequent and mandatory basis, including the leadership…

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