DICTATOR QUOTES
quotations about dictators
Dictatorship is like an invertebrate with an exo-skeleton. It appears formidable, unassailable, proof against attack. And indeed it is not easy to break through the shell. But once the shell is broken, and the inner flesh left unprotected, life departs, because without the shell there remains nothing but a sort of protoplasmic jelly.
JERRY VOORHIS
remarks in the U.S. House of Representatives, July 12, 1939
Behind the mask of the dictator
I know there is a damaged man.
Inside the man there is a frightened little boy
With scary toys.
GONG
"Damaged Man", From Here to Eternitea
Dictators ride to and fro on tigers from which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry.
WINSTON CHURCHILL
While England Slept
The iron hand crush'd the Tyrant's head
And became a Tyrant in his stead.
WILLIAM BLAKE
The Grey Monk
In a democracy, you believe it or not; in a dictatorship, you believe it or else.
EVAN ESAR
20,000 Quips & Quotes
We were originally going to quarantine dictators and again save democracy. Today we have two or three dictators on our team. We have had to drop the "democracy front" and "dictators" and talk of "aggressors." That only indicates how rapidly we can move from sheer idealism into combat.
Robert B. Chiperfield
remarks in the U.S. House of Representatives, July 5, 1939
One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.
GEORGE ORWELL
1984
Rumanian dictator, emperor for life
Lived a life of luxury shared only by his wife
Growing fat like pigs, eating meals fit for a king
Accumulating assets like none you've ever seen
Now the table's turned, they were stripped of all they owned
The revolution's cast the dictator from the throne
With their execution, so ends the tyranny
Two bullets from a rifle set the people free
EXODUS
"Changing of the Guard", Impact is Imminent
The Dictator never comes with a whip or a sword in hand. On the one hand, it has a begging bowl of sympathy and a basket of dreams on the other.
MOHAMMED ZAKI ANSARI
"Zaki's Gift of Love"
It was one of the greatest errors in evaluating dictatorship to say that the dictator forces himself on society against its own will. In reality, every dictator in history was nothing but the accentuation of already existing state ideas which he had only to exaggerate in order to gain power.
WILHELM REICH
The Mass Psychology of Fascism
Every despot must have one disloyal subject to keep him sane.
BERNARD SHAW
preface, Plays: Pleasant and Unpleasant
We must be careful not to do our enemies' work for them. To argue that to preserve our freedoms we must suspend our freedoms, that to safeguard elections we must cancel elections, that to defend ourselves from dictatorship we must appoint a dictator--what logic is this?
ROBERT HARRIS
Dictator
So long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will duly rise and make them miserable.
ALDOUS HUXLEY
Ends and Means
Dictatorship, by whatever name, is founded on the doctrine that the individual amounts to nothing; that the State is the only one that counts; and that men and women and children were put on earth solely for the purpose of serving the state.
HARRY S. TRUMAN
speech, 1946
You would like to be a dictator. And why shouldn't you? Play your cards right and it's the best job on earth. Think about it: is anything lovelier than unbridled power, limitless economic opportunity, and the pleasure of crushing those who oppose you? Does the morning air not smell sweeter knowing your enemies are humbled, crippled, or dead, and the wealth of your nation lies at your personal disposal? And is there any goal more satisfying than being indispensably at the nexus of your country's government, economy, and society, controlling, choosing, and taking your cut? And are you a family-minded sort? Then you'll want to ensure your son or daughter steps in to follow in your footsteps as you age, to protect the family fortune and continue your legacy. And finally, let's be honest: doesn't it feel good to be revered as a demi-god? Of course it does!
RANDALL WOOD & CARMINE DELUCA
The Dictator's Handbook: A Practical Manual for the Aspiring Tyrant
It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech. Immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own.
HERBERT HOOVER
attributed, Wit and Wisdom of the American Presidents
Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back!
J. K. ROWLING
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Everybody here is a dictator of something or other. They're all office holders. That's what keeps them contented. But I'm the Supreme Dictator of all, and I'm elected once a year. This is a democracy, you know, where the people are allowed to vote for their rulers. A good many others would like to be Supreme Dictator, but as I made a law that I am always to count the votes myself, I am always elected.
L. FRANK BAUM
Glinda of Oz
Ever wonder what it'd really be like
To be your own dictator
Might be its own kind of prison
Of total fear
Can't make love or go anywhere
Without bodyguards in your hair
Never know which trusted friend
Has plans to blow you away
JELLO BIAFRA
"Power Is Boring", Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors
You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.
WINSTON CHURCHILL
Blood