We have not overthrown the divine right of kings to fall down for the divine right of experts.
Harold MacmillanRead
Power? It's like a Dead Sea fruit. When you achieve it, there is nothing there.
Interpretation
The pursuit of power may lead to disappointment and emptiness, revealing that true worth lies elsewhere.
In this quote, Harold Macmillan compares power to a 'Dead Sea fruit,' suggesting that while it may seem desirable and rewarding at first, once attained, it reveals itself to be unfulfilling or even meaningless. This metaphor illustrates the notion that the quest for power can often lead to disillusionment, highlighting the importance of seeking deeper values and connections rather than superficial gains.
In practice
During a speech on leadership, one might quote Macmillan to emphasize the importance of inner strength over mere authority.
We have not overthrown the divine right of kings to fall down for the divine right of experts.
History is apt to judge harshly those who sacrifice tomorrow for today.
(A Foreign Secretary) is forever poised between the cliche and the indiscretion.
The wind of change is blowing through the continent. Whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact.
If we try to secure the well-being of others, we will, at the same time, create the conditions for our own.
Awareness is ever there. It need not be realized. Open the shutter of the mind, and it will be flooded with light.
Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
If at times our actions seem to make life difficult for others, it is only because history has made life difficult for us all.
A society that admits misery, a humanity that admits war, seem to me an inferior society and a debased humanity; it is a higher society and a more elevated humanity at which I am aiming - a society without kings, a humanity without barriers.
Never be satisfied with the world's standard of Christianity!
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