Balanced Quote by Henry Adams

Power is poison. Its effect on Presidents had always been tragic, chiefly as an almost insane excitement at first, and a worse reaction afterwards.

— Henry Adams

Power is poison. Its effect on Presidents had always been tragic.

— Henry Adams

The effect of that is to poison the flow of information to the President himself and to create a situation where a President can…

— Daniel Ellsberg

“No one can imagine the kind of pressure being president of the U.S. imposes on an individual and how easily a president can be…

— Ronald Kessler

Whether it comes from a despotic sovereign or an elected president, from a murderous general or a beloved leader, I see power as an…

— Oriana Fallaci

When a government becomes powerful it is destructive, extravagant and violent; it is an usurer which takes bread from innocent mouths and deprives honorable…

— Marcus Tullius Cicero

Great power often corrupts virtue; it invariably renders vice more malignant. . . . In proportion as the powers of government increase, both its…

— John Taylor of Caroline

The president of the United States has a serious job with deadly serious responsibilities. Rash and impulsive decisions by him can lead to negative…

— Ted Lieu

Presidents don't have power. Their job is to draw attention away from it.

— Douglas Adams

“Power is lost or won, never created or destroyed. Power is a visitor to, not a possession of, those it empowers. The mad tend…

— David Mitchell

“It is a great advantage to a President, and a major source of safety to the country, for him to know that he is…

— Calvin Coolidge

The appetite for power is old and irrepressible in humankind, and in its action almost always destructive.

— Barbara Tuchman