For the popular state is the liberty of poor and weak persons and the servitude of rich and powerful persons; monarchy is the liberty of the great and the servitude of the small.
[Car l’état populaire est la liberté des personnes pauvres et foibles et la servitude des personnes riches et puissantes; et la monarchie est la liberté des grands et la servitude des petits.]
Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689–1755) French political philosopher
Pensées Diverses [Assorted Thoughts], # 631 / 884, “On Political Liberty” (1720-1755) [tr. Clark (2012)]
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Quotations about:
empowerment
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is. The only function of a school is to make self-education easier; failing that, it does nothing.
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) Russian-American author, polymath, biochemist
Science Past, Science Future (1975)
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Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don’t want to.
Richard Branson (b. 1950) English business magnate, investor, philanthropist
Tweet (27 Mar 2014)
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Power corresponds to the human ability not just to act but to act in concert. Power is never the property of an individual; it belongs to a group and remains in existence only so long as the group keeps together. When we say of somebody that he is “in power” we actually refer to his being empowered by a certain number of people to act in their name.
Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
On Violence, ch. 2 (1970)
(Source)
This book is an expansion of her essay (1969-02-27) "Reflections on Violence," The New York Review of Books; this passage is not in the original.





