Power Corrupts Quotes
49 quotes by 37 authors
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Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
— Lord Acton
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Because power corrupts, society's demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.
— John Adams
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It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than…
— David Brin
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The will to power, as the modern age from Hobbes to Nietzsche understood it, far from being a characteristic of the strong, is, like envy…
— Hannah Arendt
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It is not that power corrupts but that power is a magnet to the corruptible.
— Frank Herbert
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Absolute power corrupts even when exercised for humane purposes. The benevolent despot who sees himself as a shepherd of the people still demands from others…
— Eric Hoffer
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If absolute power corrupts absolutely, where does that leave God??
— George Deacon
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Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still…
— Lord Acton
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The mistakes (of leaders) are amplified by the numbers who follow them without question. Charismatic leaders tend to build up followings, power structures and these…
— Frank Herbert
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Many of the greatest tyrants on the records of history have begun their reigns in the fairest manner. But the truth is, this unnatural power…
— Edmund Burke
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If absolute power corrupts absolutely, does absolute powerlessness make you pure?
— Harry Shearer
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We're taught Lord Acton's axiom: all power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. I believed that when I started these books, but I don't believe it's…
— Robert Caro
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Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end...liberty is the only object which benefits all alike,…
— Lord Acton
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Power corrupts, and PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.
— Vinton Cerf
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Power corrupts, and there is nothing more corrupting than power exercised in secret.
— Daniel Schorr
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Then there is the worst part of Christianity, which is awful: power, corruption, manipulation... But then again, these feature are ever present in any organization.
— Bruce Kent
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Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many.
— Eric Hoffer
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It has been said that absolute power corrupts absolutely, but many it not be truer to say that to be absolutely powerful a man must…
— Terence Rattigan
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Power corrupts. Knowledge is power. Study hard. Be evil.
— Eleanor Roosevelt
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When power corrupts, poetry cleanses
— John F. Kennedy
Who Wrote These Power Corrupts Quotes
37 authors contributed a total of 49 Power Corrupts Quotes, led by these top contributors: