Power is gradually stealing away from the many to the few, because the few are more vigilant and consistent.
Interpretation
Power tends to concentrate in the hands of a small, vigilant group over time.
This quote by Samuel Johnson highlights the tendency of power to shift from the majority to a select few individuals or groups. The assertion is that those who are more alert and relentless in pursuing their interests will ultimately secure greater influence, thus encouraging a societal dynamic where vigilance and consistency can determine the distribution of power.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about political engagement to encourage people to be involved in governance.
To be of no church is dangerous. Religion, of which the rewards are distant, and which is animated only by faith and hope, will glide by degrees out of the mind unless it be invigorated and reimpressed by external ordinances, by stated calls to worship, and the salutary influence of example.
He that reads and grows no wiser seldom suspects his own deficiency, but complains of hard words and obscure sentences, and asks why books are written which cannot be understood.
To let friendship die away by negligence and silence is certainly not wise. It is voluntarily to throw away one of the greatest comforts of the weary pilgrimage.
Fly-fishing may be a very pleasant amusement; but angling or float fishing I can only compare to a stick and a string, with a worm at one end and a fool at the other.
When any anxiety or gloom of the mind takes hold of you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaining; but exert yourselves to hide it, and by endeavoring to hide it you drive it away.
A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other.
Elections remind us not only of the rights but the responsibilities of citizenship in a democracy.
When government programs fail, it is often because public officials are clueless about how human beings think and act.
Fighting corruption is not just good governance. It's self-defense. It's patriotism.
Liberal and conservative have lost their meaning in America. I represent the distracted center.
Nations do not distrust each other because they are armed. They are armed because they distrust each other.
Long Island is shaped the way it is largely because of Robert Moses. Long Island is a perfect example of how political power shapes people's lives every day.
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