Power Quotes

"The master-slave relationship reveals the fundamental struggle for recognition."

"Sovereignty is he who decides on the exception."

"The state of exception becomes the rule when power seeks permanence."

"Those who control the exception control the political order itself."

"The exception reveals the true structure of power beneath legal appearances."

"The state's monopoly on legitimate violence defines its political character."

"Sovereignty cannot be divided; the attempt creates paradox and ineffectiveness."

"The sovereign addresses the exception precisely because it exceeds normal procedures."

"The state exists wherever the capacity to declare the enemy is maintained."

"An order without the willingness to enforce it is merely aspiration."

"Modern bureaucracy obscures the decisions that truly govern our lives."

"The state's capacity to declare war is the ultimate expression of sovereignty."

"The hidden structure of power often operates through legal frameworks."

"Power operates most effectively when it appears least apparent."

"The state survives through its capacity to protect; protection justifies authority."

"The exception demonstrates that authority cannot be permanently juridified."

"The appearance of legitimacy matters more for stability than the legitimacy itself."

"The state persists through the continuous assertion of its monopoly on legitimate force."

"The state's legitimacy rests ultimately on its capacity to provide security."

"The decision-maker in exceptional circumstances becomes the true locus of sovereignty."

"Power reveals itself most clearly in the capacity to suspend the rules."

"Power without responsibility is tyranny wearing a different mask."

"Power corrupts, but powerlessness isolates."

"Passive emotions diminish our power of thinking and acting."

"Increase of power is identical with increase of perfection."

"Power without wisdom is tyranny"

"Power is in the hands of those who decide."

"The sovereign must use terror to maintain order."

"In the first place, I put for a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power."

"Men naturally love liberty and dominion over others."