American politics is a struggle, not of men but of forces. The men become every year more and more creatures of force, massed about central power houses.
Henry AdamsRead
A friend in power is a friend lost.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True friends are hard to find and can be further strained by power dynamics.
The quote suggests that when a person gains power or authority, the nature of friendships can often change. Friendships that were once genuine may become strained or lost entirely due to jealousy, competition, or the pressures that come with power, illustrating the complexities of relationships in the context of social hierarchy.
Themes
FriendshipPowerRelationshipsTrustLoss
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about leadership, highlighting how power can affect personal relationships.
More from Henry Adams
All quotes βOf all studies, the one he would rather have avoided was that of his own mind. He knew no tragedy so heartrending as introspection.
Henry AdamsRead
Simplicity is the most deceitful mistress that ever betrayed man.
Henry AdamsRead
Church and State, Soul and Body, God and Man, are all one at Mont Saint Michel, and the business of all is to fight, each in his own way, or to stand guard for each other.
Henry AdamsRead
The American President resembles the commander of a ship at sea. He must have a helm to grasp, a course to steer, a port to seek.
Henry AdamsRead
The effect of power and publicity on all men is the aggravation of self, a sort of tumor that ends by killing the victim's sympathies.
Henry AdamsRead
Similar quotes
The quarrels of friends are the opportunities of foes.
AesopRead
We read not only because we cannot know enough people, but because friendship is so vulnerable, so likely to diminish or disappear, overcome by space, time, imperfect sympathies, and all the sorrows of familial and passional life.
Harold BloomRead
Into the dark night Resignedly I go, I am not so afraid of the dark night As the friends I do not know, I do not fear the night above As I fear the friends below.
Stevie SmithRead
Where there are friends there is wealth.
PlautusRead
Two are better than one,because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lif' up his fellow, but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up.
SolomonRead
The shifts of fortune test the reliability of friends.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead