--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Power without abuse loses its charm." description: "\"Power without abuse loses its charm.\" — Paul Valery" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/paul-valery-1464_abuse_power-without-abuse-loses-its-charm-1429_1429774.jpg" --- # Power without abuse loses its charm. ![“Power without abuse loses its charm.” quote by Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/paul-valery-1464_abuse_power-without-abuse-loses-its-charm-1429_1429774.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/paul-valery-1464_abuse_power-without-abuse-loses-its-charm-1429_1429774.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/paul-valery-1464_abuse_power-without-abuse-loses-its-charm-1429_1429774.jpg) > “Power without abuse loses its charm.” [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Power that is not abused loses its allure, suggesting ethical use diminishes its appeal. **In simple terms:** Abused power is more attractive than ethical power. Key Takeaway Reflect on power's nature. Themes power ethics charisma political philosophy Mood thoughtful philosophical Type literary political When to use this quote - corporate governance - political leadership - social movements Key Concepts moral philosophy leadership studies human nature Questions to Reflect On - Is ethical power less effective? - What makes power appealing? A Different Perspective Power can be necessary for change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abuse/) [Charm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/charm/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Power Abuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power-abuse/) ## Related quotes > [A woman loses a charm with every pin she takes out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/a-woman-loses-a-charm-with-every-pin-she-takes-out/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [What I fear most is power with impunity. I fear abuse of power, and the power to abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/what-i-fear-most-is-power-with-impunity-i-fear-abuse-of-power-and-the/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [“The world isn't fair? What a huge revelation! Some people in power abuse those they have power over? Amazing! When did this start happening?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/the-world-isn-t-fair-what-a-huge-revelation-some-people-in-power/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [“It’s like he goes out of his way to be just like the Urisk. The Kelts. It’s...it’s not right. We’re supposed to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-forest/it-s-like-he-goes-out-of-his-way-to-be-just-like-the-urisk-the-kelts/) [Laurie Forest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-forest/) > [“Don't you see? The man was just using me to cover up his misdeeds, as all men are wont to do. It's in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karpov-kinrade/don-t-you-see-the-man-was-just-using-me-to-cover-up-his-misdeeds-as/) [Karpov Kinrade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karpov-kinrade/) > [“With influence comes power, with power, abuse. Jakan was only the son of a Pharisee. He was only two years older than Joshua and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-moore/with-influence-comes-power-with-power-abuse-jakan-was-only-the-son-of/) [Christopher Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-moore/) > [Ukraine had quite serious impact on the many Russians. They could see that ordinary people in Ukraine which is a bordering state, very close…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/ukraine-had-quite-serious-impact-on-the-many-russians-they-could-see/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [“Do you really believe that freedom of choice exists? India still has a caste system. Most of the Middle East treats women as inferiors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilborn/do-you-really-believe-that-freedom-of-choice-exists-india-still-has-a/) [Jack Kilborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kilborn/) > [People who exploit their power and abuse others need to be revealed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radhika-apte/people-who-exploit-their-power-and-abuse-others-need-to-be-revealed/) [Radhika Apte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radhika-apte/) > [The problem isn't the abuse of power; it's the power to abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-cloud/the-problem-isn-t-the-abuse-of-power-it-s-the-power-to-abuse/) [Mike Cloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-cloud/) > [In acknowledging woman-to-woman help it is important to recognize that power, within the family and elsewhere, can be used vindictively, and that it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-kitzinger/in-acknowledging-woman-to-woman-help-it-is-important-to-recognize/) [Sheila Kitzinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-kitzinger/) > [A great man is one who can have power and not abuse it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-latham-doherty/a-great-man-is-one-who-can-have-power-and-not-abuse-it/) [Henry Latham Doherty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-latham-doherty/) > [Anyone entrusted with power will abuse it if not also animated with the love of truth and virtue, no matter whether he be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-fontaine/anyone-entrusted-with-power-will-abuse-it-if-not-also-animated-with/) [Jean de La Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-fontaine/) > [It's not just the abuse of power that's the problem. It's the power to abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/it-s-not-just-the-abuse-of-power-that-s-the-problem-it-s-the-power-to/) [Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/) > [If it is practiced by a man of taste, the photograph will have the appearance of art (but) the photographer must...intervene as little as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/if-it-is-practiced-by-a-man-of-taste-the-photograph-will-have-the/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) ## More by Paul Valery > [In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished a word that for them has no sense but abandoned; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/in-the-eyes-of-those-lovers-of-perfection-a-work-is-never-finished-a/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [“O Socrates, the universe cannot for one instant endure to be only what it is. It is strange to think that that which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/o-socrates-the-universe-cannot-for-one-instant-endure-to-be-only-what/) [Paul Valéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [We civilizations now know ourselves mortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/we-civilizations-now-know-ourselves-mortal/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [It seems to me that the soul, when alone with itself and speaking to itself, uses only a small number of words, none of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/it-seems-to-me-that-the-soul-when-alone-with-itself-and-speaking-to/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Serious people have few ideas. People with ideas are never serious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/serious-people-have-few-ideas-people-with-ideas-are-never-serious/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [“I am now going to make an admission. I confess, I agree, that all these good people who protested, who laughed, who did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/i-am-now-going-to-make-an-admission-i-confess-i-agree-that-all-these/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [“Degas is one of the very few painters who have given the floor its true importance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/degas-is-one-of-the-very-few-painters-who-have-given-the-floor-its/) [Paul Valéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Politics is the art of preventing people from busying themselves with what is their own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/politics-is-the-art-of-preventing-people-from-busying-themselves-with/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [God created man and, finding him not sufficiently alone, gave him a companion to make him feel his solitude more keenly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/god-created-man-and-finding-him-not-sufficiently-alone-gave-him-a/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [The most ridiculous were those who, on their own authority, made themselves the judges and justices of the tribe. They seemed never to suspect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/the-most-ridiculous-were-those-who-on-their-own-authority-made/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [The folly of mistaking oneself for an oracle is built right into us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/the-folly-of-mistaking-oneself-for-an-oracle-is-built-right-into-us/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Thought must be hidden in the verse like nutritional virtue in a fruit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/thought-must-be-hidden-in-the-verse-like-nutritional-virtue-in-a-fruit/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [To be sincere means to be the same person when one is with oneself; that is to say, alone - but that is all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/to-be-sincere-means-to-be-the-same-person-when-one-is-with-oneself/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [No work of art is ever completed, it is only abandoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/no-work-of-art-is-ever-completed-it-is-only-abandoned/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Interruption, incoherence, surprise are the ordinary conditions of our life. They have even become real needs for many people, whose minds are no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/interruption-incoherence-surprise-are-the-ordinary-conditions-of-our/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) [Explore all 215 Paul Valery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) ## More Abuse quotes > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [Amongst the financial Twitterati, the term 'muppets' has come to describe any client used and abused by some financial predator. I've adopted the term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/amongst-the-financial-twitterati-the-term-muppets-has-come-to/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [Being nice is okay,but don't allow anybody to abuse it...try to fight for your self when you know your on the right way...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-nice-is-okay-but-don-t-allow-anybody-to-abuse-it-try-to-fight/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Build a bridge over shame by teaching kids about sexual abuse. Give them a chance to run to us should they encounter it. Be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-byers-ruch/build-a-bridge-over-shame-by-teaching-kids-about-sexual-abuse-give/) [Carolyn Byers Ruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-byers-ruch/) > [It is sure that those are most desirous of honour or glory who cry out loudest of its abuse and the vanity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/it-is-sure-that-those-are-most-desirous-of-honour-or-glory-who-cry/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [“The sole reason I stand to open it up now is that lots of people who are in pain just like I was, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-dsouza/the-sole-reason-i-stand-to-open-it-up-now-is-that-lots-of-people-who/) [Patricia Dsouza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-dsouza/) > [Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atifete-jahjaga/democracy-must-be-built-through-open-societies-that-share-information/) [Atifete Jahjaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atifete-jahjaga/) > [I have a theory that all abuse, no matter what kind of abuse it is, is foremost an assault on the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-westover/i-have-a-theory-that-all-abuse-no-matter-what-kind-of-abuse-it-is-is/) [Tara Westover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-westover/) > [“Blaming therapy, social work and other caring professions for the confabulation of testimony of 'satanic ritual abuse' legitimated a programme of political and social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/blaming-therapy-social-work-and-other-caring-professions-for-the/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [Finally, the scariest thing about abuse of any shape or form, is, in my opinion, not the abuse itself, but that if it continues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cumming/finally-the-scariest-thing-about-abuse-of-any-shape-or-form-is-in-my/) [Alan Cumming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cumming/) > [“Research on organised abuse emphasises the diversity of organised abuse cases, and the ways in which serious forms of child maltreatment cluster in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/research-on-organised-abuse-emphasises-the-diversity-of-organised/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [“Stand up for yourself. Never give any one permission to abuse you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/stand-up-for-yourself-never-give-any-one-permission-to-abuse-you/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [All governments should be pressured to correct their abuses of human rights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-stallman/all-governments-should-be-pressured-to-correct-their-abuses-of-human/) [Richard Stallman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-stallman/) > [“Words are free. It does not mean you should abuse them. Be kind with them. They will mirror your actions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hadinet-tekie/words-are-free-it-does-not-mean-you-should-abuse-them-be-kind-with/) [Hadinet Tekie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hadinet-tekie/) > [My illness is one often characterized by dramatic overspending - in my case through frenzied shopping sprees, credit card abuse, excessive hoarding of unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-behrman/my-illness-is-one-often-characterized-by-dramatic-overspending-in-my/) [Andy Behrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-behrman/) [Browse all 3,113 Abuse quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abuse/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Power without abuse loses its charm.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Valery" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/power-without-abuse-loses-its-charm/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abuse" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/power-without-abuse-loses-its-charm/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/paul-valery-1464_abuse_power-without-abuse-loses-its-charm-1429_1429774.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/paul-valery-1464_abuse_power-without-abuse-loses-its-charm-1429_1429774.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/paul-valery-1464_abuse_power-without-abuse-loses-its-charm-1429_1429774.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Power without abuse loses its charm.” — Paul Valery", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Paul Valery", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Power without abuse loses its charm.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/power-without-abuse-loses-its-charm/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/power-without-abuse-loses-its-charm/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```