81 Orson Scott Card Quotes on Power

Orson Scott Card quotes on power

21. There was no doubt in Ender's mind. There was no help for him. Whatever he faced, now and forever, no one would save him from it. Peter might be scum, but Peter had been right, always right; the power to cause pain is the only power that matters, the power to kill and destroy, because if you can't kill you are always subject to those who can, and nothing no one will ever save you.

38. Think what we're going to do to him We're going to make him the best military commander in history. And then put the fate of the world on his shoulders.

66. Whether he likes it or not, [he] cannot remain incognito forever. He has outraged too many wise men and pleased too many fools to hide behind his too-appropriate order to assume leadership of the forces of stupidity he has marshaled, or his enemies will unmask him in order to better understand the disease that has produced such a warped and twisted mind.

72. She didn't know [him], so she thought it was the look she had seen in so many eyes, the desire to dominate, to rule her, the desire to cut through her determination and break her independence, the desire to make her submit

87. You never cease to amaze me, the way you turn people into plasma

91. I wish I had died before seeing him, he will surely undo me before he's through

107. Your dream is a good one. It's the dream of every living creature. The desire that is the very root of life itself: to grow until all the space you can see is part of you, under your control. It's the desire for greatness. There are two ways, though, to fulfill is. One way is to kill anything that is not yourself, to swallow it up or destroy it, until nothing is left to oppose you. But that way is evil. You say to all the universe, only I will be great, and to make room for me the rest of you must give up even what you already have, and become nothing

132. Sickness and healing are in every heart. Death and deliverance are in every hand.

174. We never forbid where we do not also have the power to prevent.

199. Only you have the power to kill me completely. Only you have the power to make it so my death means nothing, so that all my people die after me and there is no one left to remember. Why shouldn't I leave my testament with you alone? Only you will decide whether or not it has any worth.

244. You really can't do it can you? Can't what? Can't bow down and kiss your feet? Can't shut up to save your life.

249. You don't fight with minimum force, you fight with maximum force at endurable cost. You don't just pink your enemy, you don't even bloody him, you destroy his capability to fight back.

262. Because these fools always look up for power. People above you, they never want to share power with you. Why you look to them? They give you nothing. People below you, you give them hope, you give them respect, they give you power, cause they don't think they have any, so they don't mind giving it up.

266. Come in, kidnapped child, hostage of fate. Come and talk to the fates, who are playing such clever little games with your life

307. If I have to choose between an omnipotent God who leaves the world in this condition, and a God who has only a little bit of power but really cares and tries to make things better, I'll take you every time. Go on playing God, Hyrum. You're not bad at it. Sometimes you kind of get it right.

321. On the beach he had been able to run for the shore. Where do you run to get away from the oversoul? You didn't. You couldn't hide, either - how could you disguise your own thoughts so even you didn't know what you were thinking?

331. It all spoke of the willingness of people to hurt each other, the burning passion to control what other people thought and did. So many people, in secret, subtle ways, acted to destroy people - and not just their enemies, either, but also their friends. Destroying them for the pleasure of knowing that they had the power to cause pain. And so few who devoted their lived to building other peoples strength and confidence. So few who were true teachers, genuine mates.

345. How does he do it? How does he master people without bluster or bullying? How does he make people fear him or love him, not in spite of his ruthlessness but because of it?

361. Real power does not demonstrate itself in anything that can be purchased in mere money. Money only buys the illusion of power. Real power is in the force of will - will strong enough that others bend to it for it's own sake, and follow it willingly. Power that is won through deception will evaporate under the hot light of truth, as more closely you look at it, even when it resides only in a single person, without armies, without servants, without friends, but with indomitable will.

388. Maybe we're like the baboons. When we're stable and civilized, the women decide things, establish the households, the connections between them, create the neighborhoods and the friendships. But when we're nomadic, living lives on the edge of survival, men rule, and brook no interference from the women. Perhaps that's what civilization means - is the dominance of the female over the male/ and wherever that lapses, we call the result uncivilized, barbarian ... Manly.

434. Men seemed to find an obscene amount of pleasure in having the upper hand, in winning

457. You smile. Why, because you succeeded in provoking me?

458. You're the teacher, you're the master, you know everything, I am your puppet

462. If you don't want to control what I think, why did you raise your voice? Why did you argue with me at all?

472. Law can change how people behave when others are watching - that's all

476. [He] always wondered at that smile even as it triumphed over his own anger or envy. Where could such a power over others come from?

501. So if the evil he had done wasn't the death of the roaches, what was it? The power he had? His knack for making things go just where he wanted, making them break just in the right place, understanding how things ought to be and helping them get that way?

524. In a way, he lost some of himself, some of his knack, and therefore some of the choices he might have had in life. But in losing those, he gained so much more freedom, so much more power, that he was clear winner in the bargain

530. You're lucky I took me a vow of nonviolence,' said mike fink, 'Or you'd be suffering some pain right now.

541. In Vanya's family, silence had never meant surrender, only tactical retreat

549. This is why so many knights have died. This is why troy fell, for a woman like this

553. Living with a god is not what it's cracked up to be. They think their women should be grateful just to have them around

556. Why are you raising your voice to me, if not to command?

572. Gloating is a great joy, isn't it? To have your enemy in your power - there's nothing sweeter is there?

583. They say that love conquers all. They say that because they're idiots. Love can't conquer anything. Love can't make a scholar into a warrior. Loving her can't make her love me.

588. I had the deal in writing. Since when has that ever stopped a determined government?

603. He will know someday who is little, and who is great. Are you the strongest of all men, so strong that you can be merciful to me, a weak woman? Here is the undoing of your strength: I am not a weak woman. I am not a little queen. And your mercy will be your undoing. You will regret leaving me alive, and someday you will remember possessing me, and yearn to possess me again

605. He had been a shark trying to gnaw away at the shore, sharp-toothed and dangerous, yet unworthy of his adversary

627. Maybe she just wanted to be the one to decide when things happened between them. Then again, what women didn't want to decide that?

632. Yeah, that's why my mama taught me to say yes sir and no ma'am and please and thank you. So I could show grateful courtesy to a lawyer who's helping somebody take away my independence

680. It was a terrible thing to know about himself, that he could feel such lust to punish a submissive enemy

693. We were all victims of an oppressive system, but that mattered far less to us than our deep bonding with our owners

702. They gave me powers of thought and memory far beyond anything natural evolution would have given me, but that doesn't give them the right to decide the meaning of my life as if I were some dream. I decide the meaning. If my life is a dream then it's my dream, I'm the dreamer.

737. Once I thought [he] was god. Now I know he's much less powerful than that. He's merely fate. No. Don't say that. Not even fate. Just out guide through it. He sees the future and points the way.

738. At last he was what he had always pretended to be. An ordinary, powerless man. He hated it.

745. She had the sort of beauty that started wars

755. The world will probably be destroyed again, unless we repent. And don't think you can hide from the angels. They start out as ordinary people, and you never know which ones. Suddenly god put the power of destruction in their hands, and they destroy. And just as suddenly, when all the destruction is done, the angels leaves them, and they're ordinary people

764. The vision of the gods without the power of the gods. What a terrible gift A glorious gift

793. If they were servants by nature,' said colon, ' you wouldn't have to beat them to get them to obey.

798. Matthew did not measure her bosom or her buttocks with his gaze. Rather he worshiped. But adoration - that laid upon her an obligation she did not know how to pay. At least, not in any coin she was willing to offer him

799. She had to forgive him, because Jesus would have. Well, Jesus ended up dead. That was the way it was with all gentle, weak people. And damn few of them got resurrected, either. It was only beneficent power - law, money, prestige - that kept trusting fools alive

803. My aim is not to corrupt the weak, but to exalt the strong

804. There are 2 kinds of women a man can marry. The kind that's stronger than he is, and the kind that's weaker. I've lived with both, Charlie. It's hard to live with a strong woman, because she can make you afraid sometimes, and sometimes you feel like you aren't in control of your life. But let me tell you, boy, it's a damn sight better than living with a weak woman, because many a man isn't as good as his woman, but I never knew a husband who was better than his wife

805. I hate you for knowing my heart and using it against me

810. What do I tell him? Tell him that I will see him. She was startled. She was confused. She abandoned words, and sang her confusion. The song was meek and uncontrolled, for she would never be a master, not even a teacher, but wordlessly she asked Nniv why he would even listen to such a man, why he would risk have the rest of mankind think, the songhouse treats all men alike, judging only on merit, not on power - except for Mikal.

812. He had expected many things. But not to have a 9 year old boy, however beautiful, speak with more command than an admiral of the fleet. Yet the boy's voice was an admirable lesson in strength. The chamberlain, who was never confused, was thrown into confusion

813. Don't try it with me. I can't be fooled Only a fool can't be fooled. You pretend not to like Mikal. But of all the people here, you're the one most like him

814. One of the dangers of being so close to the center of power - one had to accept the whims of the powerful

842. You really are children. You have no idea how power works, or who has it, or what you can actually do with it

843. A true leader finds out what will be good for his people and then shapes laws that will help achieve that good purpose. If the people don't understand what he's doing, he persuades them if he can. If they refuse to be persuaded, then he acts for their good anyway. And if doing this costs him power, then he would rather lose his power for doing right, than keep his power by doing wrong. Because he loves his people more than he loves his office

845. Admit it, Aaron. We're two of a kind. We both think we're leader of a mighty nation

855. So it was his own will, not gods, he wanted you to submit to? I don't think it ever occurred to him that there might be a difference between the two

886. I know what warfare is and I reject it Of course you reject it. Who can kill you? You'll never die. But out there are millions of people who can die

895. I wondered for a frightening moment how I dared to make such a decision for the whole world, without consulting anyone else. Then I laughed at myself. It was a little too late to wonder if I ought to play god. The game was already over

902. Even the devil gives some justice to his victims, when they're beyond all help.

910. You have so little love for your own life?' You don't know, you've never been alone like I have, but in my solitude I've discovered something. That I'm passing through the world invisibly. Even when people see or speak to me it's as if I didn't exist, as if I had no right to exist. I tread across their lands and they don't see me. I act and act and act and nothing makes any difference in the world. But they touch me.

925. She had that irony in her eyes. Knowledge without wisdom. Power without purpose. Like me.

935. Power was my dream. You're real

942. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that when you have enough money the law is a reed that will always bend your way

956. If I believe it she can kill me with my own fear

983. Absolute power corrupts absolutely

988. Sometimes it was very nice to have monsters and lawyers. Why ordinary people didn't strangle arrogant bureaucrats more often, [he] didn't know.

991. It's no challenge to destroy the weak

999. Justice hates it when I make people obey me out of fear. She thinks it's ugly and not nice. She always used to make people obey her by changing what they wanted, so it didn't occur to them to disobey. I think that's degrading and turns people into animals

1000. Who were they to play god with his life? They had been playing god with his life from the beginning

1004. Who are you, god? You decide who's supposed to live and how?

1028. She is god, not you She was the least of the gods, if you want to call them that. But then, at the end she was the greatest

1055. The great forces of history were real, after a fashion. But when you examined them closely, those great forces always came down to the dreams and hungers and judgments of individuals. The choices they made were real. They mattered. Atlantis

1063. I am going to write you into a story someday, my friend. Remember that the ultimate power is mine. You may decide what you will do in this life, up to the point. But I will decide what others think of you, and not just now but long after you're dead. (The Tales of Alvin Maker)

1069. Every action of Al-Qaeda is part of Osama's cynical plan to become the Caliph of Islam. He is persuading young Muslim men to kill themselves in order to further his own climb to absolute power over all Muslims, and then (he hopes) over the whole world. These young Muslim men, Osama says, are 'martyrs, but every Muslim knows that martyrs are killed by the enemy, not self-murdered in order to kill innocents. Because they believe Osama's teachings, these young men cut themselves off from a lifetime of service to God, a lifetime of fathering children who would grow up to serve God. Instead they die in service of Osama's ambition. They are, in effect, suffering the same fate as the eunuchs who served as loyal slaves in the court of the Sultan in Istanbul. Cut off from the hope of having families of their own, their lives were spent in the service of Sultans who claimed to be religious leaders but were really nothing more than vicious exploiters and oppressors of the Muslim

1098. Only stupid men trying to seem smart need to be with dumb women. Only weak men trying to look strong are attracted to compliant women.