--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To need to dominate others is to need…" description: "\"To need to dominate others is to need others. The commander is dependent.\" — Fernando Pessoa" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/193/fernando-pessoa-177_commanders_to-need-to-dominate-others-is-to-need-ot_1037187.jpg" --- # To need to dominate others is to need others. The… ![“To need to dominate others is to need others. The commander is dependent.” quote by Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/193/fernando-pessoa-177_commanders_to-need-to-dominate-others-is-to-need-ot_1037187.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/193/fernando-pessoa-177_commanders_to-need-to-dominate-others-is-to-need-ot_1037187.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/193/fernando-pessoa-177_commanders_to-need-to-dominate-others-is-to-need-ot_1037187.jpg) > “To need to dominate others is to need others. The commander is dependent.” [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Desiring dominance reveals dependence on others, showing that power often requires support rather than isolation. **In simple terms:** Seeking power shows we need others. Key Takeaway Recognize interdependence. Themes power dependence leadership ego community Mood contemplative serious Type philosophical leadership When to use this quote - leadership training - team building - writing - counseling Key Concepts philosophy social theory psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does dependence shape leadership? - What balances power with service? A Different Perspective Power can be misused without humility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Commanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commanders/) ## Related quotes > [Self-hatred leads to the need either to dominate or to be dominated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/self-hatred-leads-to-the-need-either-to-dominate-or-to-be-dominated/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [ISIS and Iran have declared war on America, and we need a commander in chief who will do everything necessary to keep our children…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-cruz/isis-and-iran-have-declared-war-on-america-and-we-need-a-commander-in/) [Ted Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-cruz/) > [To wage war, we need a commander in chief who has made tough calls in tough times and stood up to be held accountable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carly-fiorina/to-wage-war-we-need-a-commander-in-chief-who-has-made-tough-calls-in/) [Carly Fiorina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carly-fiorina/) > [We need to have a commander-in-chief who knows what she is doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-allen/we-need-to-have-a-commander-in-chief-who-knows-what-she-is-doing/) [John R. Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-allen/) > [We need a commander in chief not a professor of law standing at a lectern - the lectern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-palin/we-need-a-commander-in-chief-not-a-professor-of-law-standing-at-a/) [Sarah Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-palin/) > [ To win that war \[with radical Islamic extremists\] we need a commander-in-chief, not a professor of law standing at the lectern. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-palin/to-win-that-war-with-radical-islamic-extremists-we-need-a-commander/) [Sarah Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-palin/) > [The lesson of the Cuban Missile Crisis is plain: Strength prevents war; weakness invites it. We need a commander-in-chief who understands that - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-l-herman/the-lesson-of-the-cuban-missile-crisis-is-plain-strength-prevents-war/) [Arthur L. Herman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-l-herman/) > [To win this war, we need a commander in chief, not a professor of law standing at the lectern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-palin/to-win-this-war-we-need-a-commander-in-chief-not-a-professor-of-law/) [Sarah Palin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-palin/) > [As long as there is no control of population, the population explosion will make it so easy for politicians to dominate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-huxley/as-long-as-there-is-no-control-of-population-the-population-explosion/) [Laura Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-huxley/) > [No one can dominate a population of 80,000,000.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-one-can-dominate-a-population-of-80-000-000/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“People are always busy in trying to manipulate and dominate others!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-aziz/people-are-always-busy-in-trying-to-manipulate-and-dominate-others/) [Salman Aziz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-aziz/) > [When you're a girl, passion can dominate the equation, but as you grow up relationships evolve. Mad passion can grab you at first, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jody-watley/when-you-re-a-girl-passion-can-dominate-the-equation-but-as-you-grow/) [Jody Watley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jody-watley/) > [We're all about girl power and everything, but we cry sometimes, and we're softies, so we can't always be like, 'Woo, girl power. We're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-jane/we-re-all-about-girl-power-and-everything-but-we-cry-sometimes-and-we/) [Dinah Jane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-jane/) > [Men dominate because of physicality, and thus they have mercy where women do not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/men-dominate-because-of-physicality-and-thus-they-have-mercy-where/) [Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/) > [One must train oneself, by small and frequent efforts, to dominate one's feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-carrel/one-must-train-oneself-by-small-and-frequent-efforts-to-dominate-one/) [Alexis Carrel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-carrel/) ## More by Fernando Pessoa > [Everything interests me, but nothing holds me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/everything-interests-me-but-nothing-holds-me/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“If only, I feel now, if only I could be someone able to see all this as if he had no other relation with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/if-only-i-feel-now-if-only-i-could-be-someone-able-to-see-all-this-as/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [What's given, in fact, always depends on the person or thing it's given to. A minor incident in the street brings the cook to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/what-s-given-in-fact-always-depends-on-the-person-or-thing-it-s-given/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Smell is a strange sight. It evokes sentimental landscapes through a sudden sketching of the subconscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/smell-is-a-strange-sight-it-evokes-sentimental-landscapes-through-a/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“Tudo vale a pena quando a alma não é pequena”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/tudo-vale-a-pena-quando-a-alma-n-o-pequena/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“no nostalgia hurts as much as nostalgia for things that never existed!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/no-nostalgia-hurts-as-much-as-nostalgia-for-things-that-never-existed/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/pg-9-in-my-heart-there-s-a-peaceful-anguish-and-my-calm-is-made-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“The feelings that hurt most, the motions that sting most, are those that are absurd; the longing for impossible things, precisely because they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/the-feelings-that-hurt-most-the-motions-that-sting-most-are-those/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“I try to say what I feel Without thinking about what I feel. 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The only thing that distinguishes me from them is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/when-it-comes-to-dreams-i-m-no-different-from-the-errand-boy-and-the/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“No intelligent idea can gain general acceptance unless some stupidity is mixed in with it. Collective thought is stupid because it’s collective. Nothing passes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/no-intelligent-idea-can-gain-general-acceptance-unless-some-stupidity/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [God gave the sea the danger and the abyss, but it was in it that He mirrored the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/god-gave-the-sea-the-danger-and-the-abyss-but-it-was-in-it-that-he/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“Everything that surrounds us becomes part of us, it seeps into us with every experience of the flesh and of life and, like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/everything-that-surrounds-us-becomes-part-of-us-it-seeps-into-us-with/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) [Explore all 781 Fernando Pessoa quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) ## More Commanders quotes > [Azerbaijan unleashed the war, and was defeated in that war; Azerbaijan asked for truce (including from the Commander of Karabakh's forces) and later started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serzh-sargsyan/azerbaijan-unleashed-the-war-and-was-defeated-in-that-war-azerbaijan/) [Serzh Sargsyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/serzh-sargsyan/) > [The architect is very interesting because the architect is the commander, meaning the one who commands all the workers. 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If you make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsey-graham/i-intend-to-make-america-strong-again-i-m-going-to-be-the-champion-of/) [Lindsey Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsey-graham/) > [“weaker commanders would get a solid explanation about the burden of command and the deep meaning of responsibility: the leader is truly and ultimately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jocko-willink/weaker-commanders-would-get-a-solid-explanation-about-the-burden-of/) [Jocko Willink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jocko-willink/) > [When you kneel in prayer, don't give God orders, just report to your Commander in Chief for duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-catt/when-you-kneel-in-prayer-don-t-give-god-orders-just-report-to-your/) [Michael Catt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-catt/) > [The commander of the forces of a large State may be carried off, but the will of even a common man cannot be taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-commander-of-the-forces-of-a-large-state-may-be-carried-off-but/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/he-who-has-never-learned-to-obey-cannot-be-a-good-commander/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The nature of encounter operations required of the commanders limitless initiative and constant readiness to take the responsibility for military actions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgy-zhukov/the-nature-of-encounter-operations-required-of-the-commanders/) [Georgy Zhukov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgy-zhukov/) > [My first job as commander in chief is to keep the American people safe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/my-first-job-as-commander-in-chief-is-to-keep-the-american-people-safe/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [I don't even think of myself as a quote, unquote star - that's really douchey. 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