Power Quotes

"Western civilization, unfortunately, does not link knowledge and morality but rather, it connects knowledge and power and makes them equivalent."

"If in preaching the gospel you substitute your knowledge of the way of salvation for confidence in the power of the gospel, you hinder people from getting to reality."

"Wisdom is the power to put our time and our knowledge to the proper use."

"The desire of excessive power caused the angels to fall the desire of knowledge caused men to fall."

"The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching."

"Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you."

"Having knowledge but lacking the power to express it clearly is no better than never having any ideas at all."

"Knowledge is not a passion from without the mind, but an active exertion of the inward strength, vigor and power of the mind, displaying itself from within."

"I would rather excel in the knowledge of what is excellent, than in the extent of my power and possessions."

"Knowledge is power only if man knows what facts not to bother with."

"Never underestimate the power of jealousy and the power of envy to destroy. Never underestimate that."

"For 13 to be unlucky would require there to be some kind of cosmic intelligence that counts things that humans count and that also makes certain things happen on certain dates or in certain places according to whether the number 13 'is involved' or not (whatever 'is involved' might mean)."

"The Homeland Security department doesn't have tasking authority in the intelligence community. They can ask for stuff, but they can't direct anything except inside their bureau."

"It becomes a giant's task to compute the result when the effect of cross seas, wind at all angles and ever varying force, arched surfaces, head resistance, ratio of weight to area, and the intelligence of the guiding power crop up."

"I can remember when I was National Security Adviser, the intelligence community told us... they put out an intelligence report saying that Iran would never back off from attacks on shipping in the Gulf if we use force."

"The National Intelligence Director needs the authority to do the job we are asking him to do. That means power over the intelligence budget. And to be effective, to be allowed to do his or her job, they must have authority over the budget."

"The 9/11 Commission strongly recommends that the National Intelligence Director be fully in control of the budget, from developing it to implementing it, to ensuring that the National Intelligence Director has the clout to make decisions."

"In November, they transferred control of Abu Ghraib to the military intelligence command completely it was, after all, the center for interrogations for Iraq."

"When I was the director of Central Intelligence in the early '90s, I tried to get the Air Force to partner with us in building drones. And they didn't want to, because they had no pilots."

"In the fight against terrorism, national agencies keep full control over their police forces, security and intelligence agencies and judicial authorities."

"There is a lot of strength and intelligence in Hollywood."

"To attempt to superimpose its views through the exercise of force, is seldom the part of intelligence it is frequently the part of ignorance."

"She saw too that man has the power of exceeding himself, of becoming himself more entirely and profoundly than he is, truths which have only recently begun to be seen in Europe and seem even now too great for its common intelligence."

"I want to exude strength and intelligence."

"Intelligence agencies keep things secret because they often violate the rule of law or of good behavior."

"Too many problem-solving sessions become battlegrounds where decisions are made based on power rather than intelligence."

"Man is made or unmade by himself. By the right choice he ascends. As a being of power, intelligence, and love, and the lord of his own thoughts, he holds the key to every situation."

"We will strengthen our security by building missile defense, restoring our military might, and standing by and strengthening our intelligence officers."

"The essential elements of giving are power and love - activity and affection - and the consciousness of the race testifies that in the high and appropriate exercise of these is a blessedness greater than any other."

"Melville brought to the task a sound knowledge of actual whaling, much curious learning in the literature of the subject, and, above all, an imagination which worked with great power upon the facts of his own experience."

"In those days, it didn't take much imagination to come up with something that required great lyric development skills. You just thought of an experience that you might have gone through, and write it down."

"When it came to political power, blacks need not apply. Add to this steaming stew the growing tensions over the Vietnam War and the movement for civil rights, and you had plenty of elements to fire the imagination of a novice journalist."

"I certainly know there are people in positions of power in the business who lack imagination and, perhaps as a result of that, think of me as 'David'. But I wouldn't really want to work with those people, you know?"

"There are two worlds: the world we can measure with line and rule, and the world that we feel with our hearts and imagination."

"Being an actor in movies is a lot about the power of your imagination and making the circumstance real to you so the audience will feel that it's real."

"I feel that directors at times are like the janitors on the set. I am the secretary, I am the organizer, I am the maid, and I ask if they have eaten or rested. The best things are always out of your control. It's those moments that surpass the imagination that are thrilling."

"Obviously the imagination is fueled by emotions beyond the control of the conscious mind."

"The source and center of all man's creative power... is his power of making images, or the power of imagination."

"The power of imagination makes us infinite."

"Democratic politicians have disliked things I've written, Republican politicians... if they all love you, you might as well be driving a Good Humor truck."

"I think that some books are more successful than others to certain readers. People who read my books for the humor, they're going to love one book. People who read my books for the mystery, they might not like that book quite as much."

"A lot of my humor centers on the act of telling jokes and I think this can prevent certain audiences from suspending their feeling of disbelief. It might piss a few people off, but I can't help it."

"Families are the tie that reminds us of yesterday, provide strength and support today, and give us hope for tomorrow. No government, no matter how well-intentioned, or well-managed, can provide what our families provide."

"The myth of the liberal media empowers conservatives to control debate in the United States to the point where liberals cannot even hope for a fair shake anymore."

"If we are going to stay a great power and I hope and pray we will we need the truth. We need to know what is going right and we need to know what is going wrong. There is no greater time than now."

"In the kind of world we have today, transformation of humanity might well be our only real hope for survival."

"I have learned from my experiences in this industry that there is absolutely no way to control people's opinions on your performance in your movie. You go out there, promote your film and hope people like the work you did."

"The contrasts between what is spent today to educate a child in the poorest New York City neighborhoods, where teacher salaries are often even lower than the city averages, and spending levels in the wealthiest suburban areas are daunting challenges to any hope New Yorkers might retain that even semblances of fairness still prevail."

"With optimism, you look upon the sunny side of things. People say, 'Studs, you're an optimist.' I never said I was an optimist. I have hope because what's the alternative to hope? Despair? If you have despair, you might as well put your head in the oven."

"I don't think I'm a great songwriter, but I think I've learned a lot about it, and I don't think there's any one way to do it. I don't think I can control it at all. I can just kind of hope that it happens."