Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
John SteinbeckRead
Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that it is not power itself that leads to corruption, but rather the fear associated with losing that power.
John Steinbeck's quote highlights the idea that corruption arises not from the possession of power, but from the anxieties and fears it instills. It reflects on how the fear of losing power can lead individuals to unethical behaviors, as they may prioritize self-preservation over moral integrity.
Themes
PowerCorruptionFearLossIntegrity
In practice
Example use cases
In a political speech about transparency and ethics.
More from John Steinbeck
All quotes βAt one point, as Samuel urges Adam to raise his boys well regardless of the blood that might be in them, Adam tells him, "You can't make a race horse of a pig." Samuel replies, "No, but you can make a very fast pig.
John SteinbeckRead
And when that crop grew, and was harvested, no man had crumbled a hot clod in his fingers and let the earth sift past his fingertips. No man had touched the seed, or lusted for the growth. Men ate what they had not raised, had no connection with the bread. The land bore under iron, and under iron gradually died; for it was not loved or hated, it had no prayers or curses.
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The comfortable people in tight houses felt pity at first, and then distaste, and finally hatred for the migrant people.
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People do not want advice - they want corroboration.
John SteinbeckRead
It is one of the triumphs of the human that he can know a thing and still not believe it.
John SteinbeckRead
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