WIST Quotations

Montesquieu -- Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 4, ch. 3 (4.3) (1748) [tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)]

Dave — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 19:35:22 +0000

Extreme obedience assumes ignorance in the one who obeys; it assumes ignorance even in the one who commands; he does not have to deliberate, to doubt, or to reason; he has only to want.

[L’extrême obéissance suppose de l’ignorance dans celui qui obéit; elle en suppose même dans celui qui commande: il n’a point à délibérer, à douter, ni à raisonner; il n’a qu’à vouloir.]

Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 4, ch. 3 (4.3) (1748) [tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Other translations:

Excessive obedience supposes ignorance in the person that obeys: the same it supposes in him that commands; for he has no occasion to deliberate, to doubt, to reason; he has only to will.
[tr. Nugent (1750)]

Extreme obedience assumes ignorance in him who obeys; it assumes ignorance even in him who commands: he has no need to deliberate, to doubt, or to reason, he has only to will.
[tr. Stewart (2018)

Herrick, Robert -- “Kings and Tyrants,” Hesperides, # 861 (1648)

Dave — Mon, 18 Aug 2025 18:12:43 +0000

’Twixt kings and tyrants there’s this difference known:
Kings seek their subjects’ good; tyrants their own.

Robert Herrick (1591-1674) English poet
“Kings and Tyrants,” Hesperides, # 861 (1648)
(Source)

See Aristotle.

Marcus Aurelius -- Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 6, ch. 30 (6.30.1) (AD 161-180) [tr. Farquharson (1944)]

Dave — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 20:42:30 +0000

Take heed not to be transformed into a Caesar, not to be dipped in the purple dye; for it does happen.

[Ὅρα μὴ ἀποκαισαρωθῇς, μὴ βαφῇς: γίνεται γάρ.]

Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 6, ch. 30 (6.30.1) (AD 161-180) [tr. Farquharson (1944)]
(Source)

Advising himself on the dangers of becoming emperor. Marcus coined a new Greek verb here (ἀποκαισαρόομαι), "to become like Caesar" (more broadly, "to assume the monarchy").

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

Take heed, lest of a philosopher thou become a mere Caesar in time, and receive a new tincture from the court. For it may happen if thou dost not take heed.
[tr. Casaubon (1634), 6.27]

Have a care you han't too much of an Emperour in you, and that you don't fall into the liberties and Pride of your Predecessors. These Humours are easily learn'd, therefore guard against the Infection.
[tr. Collier (1701)]

Take care you don’t degenerate into the manners of the Cesars, or be tinctured by them.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]

Beware, when you take the title of Cæsar, that you do not insensibly assume too much of the Emperor; nor be infected with the haughty manners of some of your predecessors; for there is a possibility of such an event.
[tr. Graves (1792), 6.27]

Take care that thou art not made into a Caesar, that thou art not dyed with this dye; for such things happen.
[tr. Long (1862)]

Have care that you have not too much of a Cæsar in you, and that you are not dyed with that dye. This is easily learned, therefore guard against the infection.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]

See that you be not be-Cæsared, steeped in that dye, as too often happens.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]

See to it that you fall not into Caesarism: avoid that stain, for it may come to you.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]

See thou be not Caesarified, nor take that dye, for there is the possibility.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]

Be careful not to affect the monarch too much, or to be too deeply dyed with the purple; for this can well happen.
[tr. Staniforth (1964)]

Take care that you are not turned into a Caesar, that you are not stained with the purple; for such things do come about.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.; 2011 ed.)]

To escape imperialization -- that indelible stain. It happens.
[tr. Hays (2003)]

Take care not to be Caesarified, or dyed in purple: it happens.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]

Take care you are not turned into a Caesar, or stained with the purple; these things do happen.
[tr. Gill (2013)]

Beware of being Caesarified, be not stained by desire for power.
[ed. Taplin (2016)]

Adams, John -- Diary (1772, Spring), “Notes for a Oration at Braintree”

Dave — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 18:54:20 +0000

But this is an unalterable Truth, that the People can never be enslaved but by their own Tameness, Pusillanimity, Sloth or Corruption. They may be deceived, and their Symplicity, Ignorance, and Docility render them frequently liable to deception. And of this, the aspiring, designing, ambitious few are very sensible. He is the Statesman qualifyed by Nature to scatter Ruin and Destruction in his Path who by deceiving a Nation can render Despotism desirable in their Eyes and make himself popular in Undoing.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Diary (1772, Spring), “Notes for a Oration at Braintree”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano -- Speech (1941-01-06) to Congress, Annual Message (State of the Union), “Four Freedoms,” Washington, D. C.

Dave — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 23:42:03 +0000

We will not be intimidated by the threats of dictators that they will regard as a breach of international law or as an act of war our aid to the democracies which dare to resist their aggression. Such aid is not an act of war, even if a dictator should unilaterally proclaim it so to be.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933–1945)
Speech (1941-01-06) to Congress, Annual Message (State of the Union), “Four Freedoms,” Washington, D. C.
(Source)

Carlyle, Thomas -- Essay (1850-04-01), “Downing Street,” Latter-Day Pamphlets, No. 3

Dave — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 19:02:31 +0000

Tell me what kind of man governs a People, you tell me, with much exactness, what the net sum-total of social worth in that People has for some time been.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Essay (1850-04-01), “Downing Street,” Latter-Day Pamphlets, No. 3
(Source)

Hand, Learned -- “Democracy: Its Presumptions and Realities,” speech, Federal Bar Association, Washington, DC (1932-03-08)

Dave — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 18:48:11 +0000

And so when I hear so much impatient and irritable complaint, so much readiness to replace what we have by guardians for us all, those supermen, evoked somewhere from the clouds, whom none have seen and none are ready to name, I lapse into a dream, as it were. I see children playing on the grass; their voices are shrill and discordant as children’s are; they are restive and quarrelsome; they cannot agree to any common plan; their play annoys them; it goes poorly. And one says, let us make Jack the master; Jack knows all about it; Jack will tell us what each is to do and we shall all agree. But Jack is like all the rest; Helen is discontented with her part and Henry with his, and soon they fall again into their old state. No, the children must learn to play by themselves; there is no Jack the master. And in the end slowly and with infinite disappointment they do learn a little; they learn to forbear, to reckon with anther, accept a little where they wanted much, to live and let live, to yield when they must yield; perhaps, we may hope, not to take all they can. But the condition is that they shall be willing at least to listen to one another, to get the habit of pooling their wishes. Somehow or other they must do this, if the play is to go on; maybe it will not, but there is no Jack, in or out of the box, who can come to straighten the game.

Learned Hand (1872-1961) American jurist
“Democracy: Its Presumptions and Realities,” speech, Federal Bar Association, Washington, DC (1932-03-08)
(Source)

Collected in The Spirit of Liberty (1953).

Shakespeare, William -- Pericles, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 84ff (1.1.84-86) (1607) [with George Wilkins]

Dave — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 16:27:58 +0000

PERICLES:But thou know’st this:
’Tis time to fear when tyrants seems to kiss.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Pericles, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 84ff (1.1.84-86) (1607) [with George Wilkins]
(Source)

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- Essay (1948-10), “An Open Letter to America’s Students,” Reader’s Digest

Dave — Tue, 06 Sep 2022 06:12:04 +0000

Never let yourself be persuaded that any one Great Man, any one leader, is necessary to the salvation of America. When America consists of one leader and 143,000,000 followers, it will no longer be America. Truly American leadership is not of any one man. It is of multitudes of men — and women.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Essay (1948-10), “An Open Letter to America’s Students,” Reader’s Digest
(Source)

The quote can be found (without citation) in different locations with various numbers for the US population.

The letter was written while Eisenhower was President of Columbia University.

Kapuscinski, Ryszard -- Shah of Shahs (1982)

Dave — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 19:26:55 +0000

Despotic authority attaches great importance to being considered strong, and much less to being admired for its wisdom. Besides, what does wisdom mean to a despot? It means skill in the use of power. The wise despot knows when and how to strike. This continual display of power is necessary because, at root, any dictatorship appeals to the lowest instincts of the governed: fear, aggressiveness toward one’s neighbors, bootlicking. Terror most effectively excites such instincts, and fear of strength is the wellspring of terror.

Ryszard Kapuściński (1932-2007) Polish journalist, photographer, poet, author
Shah of Shahs (1982)
(Source)

Aristotle -- Politics [Πολιτικά], Book 3, ch. 14 / 1285a25 [tr. Ellis (1776)]

Dave — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 22:40:37 +0000

Their guards also are such as are used in a kingly government, not a despotic one; for the guards of their kings are his citizens, but a tyrant’s are foreigners. The one commands, in the manner the law directs, those who willingly obey; the other, arbitrarily, those who consent not. The one, therefore, is guarded by the citizens, the other against them.

[οἱ γὰρ πολῖται φυλάττουσιν ὅπλοις τοὺς βασιλεῖς, τοὺς δὲ τυράννους ξενικόν: οἱ μὲν γὰρ κατὰ νόμον καὶ ἑκόντων οἱ δ᾽ ἀκόντων ἄρχουσιν, ὥσθ᾽ οἱ μὲν παρὰ τῶν πολιτῶν οἱ δ᾽ ἐπὶ τοὺς πολίτας ἔχουσι τὴν φυλακήν.]

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Politics [Πολιτικά], Book 3, ch. 14 / 1285a25 [tr. Ellis (1776)]
(Source)

Original Greek. Alternate translations:

"The guard of the king is, for the same cause, one that belongs to a monarch and not to a tyrant, for the citizens protect their kings with their arms; but it is aliens who guard despots. For the former rule legally over willing subjects, the latter over unwilling; so that the former are guarded by their subjects, the latter against them." [tr. Bolland (1877)]

"Wherefore also their guards are such as a king and not such as a tyrant would employ, that is to say, they are composed of citizens, whereas the guards of tyrants are mercenaries. For kings rule according to the law over voluntary subjects, but tyrants over involuntary; and the one are guarded by their fellow-citizens, the others are guarded against them." [tr. Jowett (1921)]

"Also their bodyguard is of a royal and not a tyrannical type for the same reason; for kings are guarded by the citizens in arms, whereas tyrants have foreign guards, for kings rule in accordance with law and over willing subjects, but tyrants rule over unwilling subjects, owing to which kings take their guards from among the citizens but tyrants have them to guard against the citizens." [tr. Rackham (1944)]

"For the same reason, their bodyguard is of a kingly rather than a tyrannical sort. For the citizens guard kings with their own arms, while a foreign element guards the tyrant, since the former rule willing persons in accordance wit the law, while the latter rule unwilling persons. So the ones have a bodyguard provided by the citizens, the other one that is directed against them." [tr. Lord (1984)]

"And their bodyguards are kingly and not tyrannical due to the same cause. For citizens guard kings with their weapons, whereas a foreign contingent guards tyrants. For kings rule in accord with the law and rule voluntary subjects, whereas the latter rule involuntary ones, so that the former have bodyguards drawn from the citizens, whereas the latter have bodyguards to protect them against the citizens." [tr. Reeve (2007)]

"Citizens guard their kings with arms; foreigners protect tyrants. This is because kings rule according to the law and with willing citizens while tyrants rule the unwilling. As a result, kings have guards from their subjects and tyrants keep guards against them." [tr. @sentantiq]

Philo of Alexandria -- On Dreams, That They Are God-Sent [Quod a Deo Mittantur Somnia or De Somniis], Book 2, ch. 12 [2.78-79] [tr. @sentantiq]

Dave — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 21:33:17 +0000

Indeed, just as frightened horses raise their necks up high, in the same way all those devotees of empty glory raise themselves above everything else, above cities, laws, ancestral custom, and the affairs of individual citizens. As they move from demagoguery to dictatorship, they subdue some of their neighbors as they try to make themselves superior and upright — and then they plan to enslave however so many minds remain naturally free and unenslaved.

[τῷ γὰρ ὄντι καθάπερ οἱ γαῦροι τῶν ἵππων τὸν αὐχένα μετέωρον ἐξάραντες, ὅσοι θιασῶται τῆς κενῆς δόξης εἰσίν, ἐπάνω πάντων ἑαυτοὺς ἱδρύουσι, πόλεων, νόμων, ἐθῶν πατρίων, τῶν παρ᾿ ἑκάστοις πραγμάτων· εἶτα ἀπὸ δημαγωγίας ἐπὶ δημαρχίαν βαδίζοντες καὶ τὰ μὲν τῶν πλησίον καταβάλλοντες, τὰ δὲ οἰκεῖα διανιστάντες καὶ παγίως ὀρθοῦντες, ὅσα ἐλεύθερα καὶ ἀδούλωτα φύσει φρονήματα]

Philo of Alexandria (AD c. 20-50) Hellenistic Jewish philosopher [Philo Judaeus]
On Dreams, That They Are God-Sent [Quod a Deo Mittantur Somnia or De Somniis], Book 2, ch. 12 [2.78-79] [tr. @sentantiq]
(Source)

Alt. trans.: "In real truth, as spirited horses lift their necks high, so all who are companions of vain opinion place themselves above all things, above all cities, and laws, and national customs, and above all the circumstances which affect each individual of them. Then proceeding onwards from being demagogues to being leaders of the people, and overthrowing the things which belong to their neighbours, and setting up and establishing on a solid footing what belongs to themselves, that is to say, all such dispositions as are free and by nature impatient of slavery, they attempt to reduce these also under their power." [Yonge (1855)]

Arendt, Hannah -- Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Society,” sec. 1 (1951)

Dave — Tue, 05 May 2020 20:59:08 +0000

The only man for whom Hitler had “unqualified respect” was “Stalin the genius,” and while in the case of Stalin and the Russian regime we do not have (and presumably never will have) the rich documentary material that is available for Germany, we nevertheless know since Khrushchev’s speech before the Twentieth Party Congress that Stalin trusted only one man and that was Hitler.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Society,” sec. 1 (1951)
(Source)

Kroeber, A. L. -- The Nature of Culture, ch. 14 (1952)

Dave — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 05:16:12 +0000

Any fool could devise a more consistent system than exists, but even a despot can rarely institute one.

Alfred Louis "A. L." Kroeber (1876-1960) American cultural anthropologist
The Nature of Culture, ch. 14 (1952)

Lincoln, Abraham -- Letter (1863-01-26) to Gen. Joseph Hooker

Dave — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 10:58:15 +0000

I have heard, in such a way as to believe it, of your recently saying that both the Army and the Government needed a Dictator. Of course it was not for this, but spite of it, that I have given you the command. Only those generals who gain successes, can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Letter (1863-01-26) to Gen. Joseph Hooker
(Source)