Dictators ride to and fro on tigers they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Dictators use repression to stay in power but eventually become victims of their own violent methods.
- In plain terms
- Rulers who use violence will be destroyed by it.
- What can you take from it?
- Oppression contains the seeds of its own downfall.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Does power always corrupt?
- How does oppression fail?
Another view
It assumes a linear moral outcome for all tyrants.
More from Winston Churchill
Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities, because it is the quality which guarantees all others.
Permalink to quote #121 Don't argue about the difficulties. The difficulties will argue for themselves.
Permalink to quote #123 Broadly speaking, short words are the best, and the old words, when short, are best of all.
Permalink to quote #120
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