Power Quote by David Mitchell
““Power is lost or won, never created or destroyed. Power is a visitor to, not a possession of, those it empowers. The mad tend to crave it, many of the sane crave it, but the wise worry about its long-term side effects. Power is crack cocaine for your ego and battery acid for your soul. Power’s comings and goings, from host to host, via war, marriage, ballot box, diktat, and accident of birth, are the plot of history. The empowered may serve justice, remodel the Earth, transform lush nations into smoking battlefields, and bring down skyscrapers, but power itself is amoral.” Immaculée Constantin now looks up at me. “Power will notice you. Power is watching you now. Carry on as you are, and power will favor you. But power will also laugh at you, mercilessly, as you lie dying in a private clinic, a few fleeting decades from now. Power mocks all its illustrious favorites as they lie dying. ‘Imperious Caesar, dead and turn’d to clay, might stop a hole to keep the wind away.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, 2004
Power is a transient force that moves between people, shaping history without moral value.
In simple terms: Power shifts and is amoral.
Recognize power’s influence and stay humble.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- politics
- leadership
- personal ambition
- social movements
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you guard against power’s corrupting influence?
- What responsibilities come with wielding power?
Power can corrupt and blind even the wise.