1. A position of authority is neither necessary nor sufficient for the exercise of leadership. ~Eric Werkowitz
2. Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more. ~Mark Twain
3. An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens. ~Thomas Jefferson
4. Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory. ~Leonardo da Vinci
5. Authority intoxicates, and makes mere sots of magistrates; The fumes of it invade the brain, and make men giddy, proud, and vain. ~Samuel Butler
6. Authority is not a quality one person "has," in the sense that he has property or physical qualities. Authority refers to an interpersonal relation in which one person looks upon another as somebody superior to him. ~Erich Fromm
7. Because power corrupts, society's demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases. ~John Adams
8. Between a man and his wife nothing ought to rule but love. Authority is for children and servants, yet not without sweetness. ~William Penn
9. Between stimulus and response is our greatest power - the freedom to choose. ~Stephen R. Covey
10. Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority. ~Thomas Huxley
11. Having power is like being a lady; if you have to tell people you have it - you don't. ~Margaret Thatcher
12. He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still. ~Lao Tzu
13. He who is devoid of the power to forgive, is devoid of the power to love. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
14. I am not interested in power for power's sake, but I'm interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
15. I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it. ~George Carlin
16. I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be. ~Thomas Jefferson
17. I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way. ~Thomas Jefferson
18. If you wish to know what a man is, place him in authority. ~Yugoslav Proverb
19. It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. ~David Brin
20. Knowledge is power. ~Sir Francis Bacon
21. Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people. ~Thomas Jefferson
22. Liberty is the proper end and object of authority, and cannot subsist without it; and it is liberty to that which is good, just, and honest. ~John Winthrop
23. Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts. ~Voltaire
24. Moral authority is never retained by any attempt to hold on to it. It comes without seeking and is retained without effort. ~Mohandas Gandhi
25. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. ~Abraham Lincoln
26. Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness. ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
27. No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority. ~Robert A. Heinlein
28. Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence. ~Leonardo da Vinci
29. One could write a history of science in reverse by assembling the solemn pronouncements of highest authority about what could not be done and could never happen. ~Robert A. Heinlein
30. Power consists in one's capacity to link his will with the purpose of others, to lead by reason and a gift of cooperation. ~Woodrow Wilson
31. Put two or three men in positions of conflicting authority. This will force them to work at loggerheads, allowing you to be the ultimate arbiter. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt
32. Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor liberty to purchase power. ~Benjamin Franklin
33. Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere as long as the policy you've decided upon is being carried out. ~Ronald Reagan
34. The attempt to combine wisdom and power has only rarely been successful and then only for a short while. ~Albert Einstein
35. The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn. ~Marcus Tullius Cicero
36. The being cannot be termed rational or virtuous, who obeys any authority, but that of reason. ~Mary Wollstonecraft
37. The faith that stands on authority is not faith. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
38. The highest proof of virtue is to possess boundless power without abusing it. ~Lord Macaulay
39. The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority. ~Ken Blanchard
40. The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on Earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but only to have the law of nature for his rule. ~Samuel Adams
41. The people are hungry: It is because those in authority eat up too much in taxes. ~Lao Tzu
42. The problem of power is how to achieve its responsible use rather than its irresponsible and indulgent use - of how to get men of power to live for the public rather than off the public. ~Robert F. Kennedy
43. The tyrant is nothing but a slave turned inside out. ~Herbert Spencer
44. The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual's own reason and critical analysis. ~Dalai Lama
45. The wisest have the most authority. ~Plato
46. To know the pains of power, we must go to those who have it; to know its pleasures, we must go to those who are seeking it. ~Charles Caleb Colton
47. To punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me an authority myself. ~Albert Einstein
48. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. ~Leo F. Buscaglia
49. Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority. ~Francis Bacon
50. Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself. ~Elie Wiesel
51. We have, I fear, confused power with greatness. ~Stewart L. Udall
52. We thought, because we had power, we had wisdom. ~Stephen Vincent Benét
53. What is not fully appreciated by managers and professionals in the middle of organizations is that no one has real control. ~Unknown
54. When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then there will be true peace. ~Sri chin Moi Gosh
55. When you make your peace with authority, you become authority. ~Jim Morrison
56. You see what power is: holding someone else's fear in your hand and showing it to them. ~Amy Tan