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.
When I was younger I was looking for this magic meaning of life. It's very simple now. Making the lives of others better, doing something of lasting value. That's the meaning of life, it's that simple.
Cultivated leisure is the aim of man.
Acceptance of one's life has nothing to do with resignation; it does not mean running away from the struggle. On the contrary, it means accepting it as it comes, with all the handicaps of heredity, of suffering, of psychological complexes and injustices.
The God-image in man was not destroyed by the Fall but was only damaged and corrupted (βdeformedβ), and can be restored through God's grace. The scope of the integration is suggested by the descensus ad inferos, the descent of Christ's soul to hell, its work of redemption embracing even the dead. The psychological equivalent of this is the integration of the collective unconscious which forms an essential part of the individuation process.
Law has become a business. Health care has become a business. Unfortunately, politics has also become a business. That really undermines society.
Let go, and move closer to existence in silence and peace, in meditation.
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