Quotes About Control

There are two kinds of Fascists: those who give orders and those who take them. A popular base gives Fascism the legs it needs to march, the lungs it uses to proclaim, and the muscle it relies on to menace—but that's Fascism from the neck down. To create tyranny out of the fears and hopes of average people, money is required, and so, too, ambition and twisted ideas.

the Fascist game plan: a single party, speaking with one voice, controlling every state institution, claiming to represent all people, and labeling the entire sham a triumph of the popular will.

the conservatives saw the Fascist leader as someone they could hide behind, manipulate, and, when convenient, replace.

If an advertiser can use that information to home in on a consumer because of his or her individual interests, what's to stop a Fascist government from doing the same?

In those moments, many of us no longer want to be asked, "What do you think?" We want to be told where to march. That is when Fascism gets its start: other options don't seem enough.

MUSSOLINI OBSERVED THAT IN SEEKING TO ACCUMULATE POWER, it is wise to do so in the manner of one plucking a chicken—feather by feather—so each squawk is heard apart from every other and the whole process is kept as muted as possible.

with the rights of others, and is willing to use violence and whatever other means are necessary to achieve the goals he or she might have.

do what the government demanded because they could no longer conceive of an alternative.

Years before taking office, Hitler told his fellow Nazis, "The Constitution only maps out the arena of the battle, not the goal… once we possess constitutional power, we will mold the state into the shape we hold to be suitable.

No error is more common than to assume that the winner of an election has license to do whatever he or she may want.

Existen dos tipos de fascistas: los que dan órdenes y los que las acatan. El apoyo popular da al fascismo las piernas que necesita para caminar, los pulmones de los que se sirve para gritar y la musculatura en la que descansa la amenaza que representa; pero eso en todo caso sería el fascismo de cuello para abajo. Si se quiere sembrar la tiranía sirviéndose de los miedos y esperanzas del ciudadano medio, se necesita dinero, ambición e ideas perversas.

To hold the line, we must recognize that despots rarely reveal their intentions and that leaders who begin well frequently become more authoritarian the longer they hold power.

Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Gandhi, King, Havel, Mandela, and many other memorable leaders have found in righteous indignation the psychological edge they needed to endure years of doubt and trial. However, such an emotion is not something everyone can control, and it has, when unleashed, enough destructive energy to turn grand potential to failure.

Designating "(Fill in the blank) First" as the golden rule of international relations provides an all-purpose justification for tyrants to do as they like.

If they want to come for you, they will come, and it doesn't matter what you read or what you failed to read. The books on your shelves, the music you cherish, the past lives you've lived, all these details are just an excuse.

emotions don't dictate choices.

There are no bargains between lion and men. I will kill you and eat you raw.

You can teach a viper to eat from your hands, but you cannot take away how much it likes to bite.

Then I learned that I could bend the world to my will, as a bow is bent for an arrow. I would have done that toil a thousand times to keep such power in my hands.

They do not care if you are good. They barely care if you are wicked. The only thing that makes them listen is power.

I had felt untouchable, filled with teeth and power.

Every moment of my peace was a lie, for it came only at the gods' pleasure. No matter what I did, how long I lived, at a whim they would be able to reach down and do with me what they wished.

Good. I wanted him angry. He would make mistakes that way.

Then I learned that I could bend the world to my will, as a bow is bent for an arrow. I would have done that toil a thousand times to keep such power in my hands. I thought: this is how Zeus felt when he first lifted the thunderbolt.