Those in possession of absolute power can not only prophesy and make their prophecies come true, but they can also lie and make their lies come true.
Interpretation
Absolute power enables individuals to shape reality through both truth and deceit.
This quote suggests that individuals who hold absolute power possess the ability not only to foresee or influence events but also to manipulate truth. It highlights the potential dangers of power, as those in control can distort reality to fit their narratives, blurring the line between honesty and deception.
In practice
During a keynote speech on leadership, one might reference this quote to discuss the responsibility that comes with power.
Language was invented to ask questions. Answers may be given by grunts and gestures, but questions must be spoken. Humanness came of age when man asked the first question. Social stagnation results not from a lack of answers but from the absence of the impulse to ask questions.
Faith in humanity, in posterity, in the destiny of one's religion, nation, race, party or family-what is it but the visualization of that eternal something to which we attach the self that is about to be annihilated?
You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.
Our frustration is greater when we have much and want more than when we have nothing and want some. We are less dissatisfied when we lack many things than when we seem to lack but one thing.
Our credulity is greatest concerning the things we know least about.
Perhaps a modern society can remain stable only by eliminating adolescence, by giving its young, from the age of ten, the skills, responsibilities, and rewards of grownups, and opportunities for action in all spheres of life. Adolescence should be a time of useful action, while book learning and scholarship should be a preoccupation of adults.
Any time I claimed to be white, that would be unacceptable. It just doesn't make sense in people's minds. If I'm white, how can I walk through a department store and still have people scared that I'm going to rob them? Which, that can still happen.
Staying true to our goals, Question Bridge as a company and as a project is not singularly about black males. One of the things I'm so excited about Question Bridge is that my vision goes far beyond black males.
We have associations to things. We have, you know, we have associations to tables and to - and to dogs and to cats and to Harvard professors, and that's the way the mind works. It's an association machine.
Iron necessity is a thing which in the course of history men come to see as neither iron nor necessary.
It takes more than just a good looking body. You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it.
I prefer rationalism to atheism. The question of God and other objects-of-faith are outside reason and play no part in rationalism, thus you don't have to waste your time in either attacking or defending.
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