Just as a savage will sacrifice his whole subsistence to his hunger, the despot sacrifices his authority to his love of power; his reign devours the reign of his successors.
[Comme le sauvage sacrifie sa subsistance à sa faim, le despote sacrifie sa puissance à son pouvoir; son règne dévore le règne de ses successeurs.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 14 “Des Gouvernements [On Governments],” ¶ 16 (1850 ed.) [tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 13, ¶ 7]
(Source)
(Source (French)). No other translations of the thought found amongst those consulted.
Quotations about:
power-mad
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Perhaps he’s reached that stage of intoxication which power is said to inspire, the state in which you believe you are indispensable and can therefore do anything, absolutely anything you feel like, anything at all.
Margaret Atwood (b. 1939) Canadian writer, literary critic, environmental activist
The Handmaid’s Tale, ch. 37 (1986)
(Source)
The quality of the will to power is, precisely, growth. Achievement is its cancellation. To be, the will to power must increase with each fulfillment, making the fulfillment only a step to a further one. The vaster the power gained, the vaster the appetite for more.
