Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
Heaven cannot brook two suns, nor earth two masters.
Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.
I shall be an autocrat: that's my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that's his.
In my position you have to read when you want to write and talk when you would like to read.
Power without a nation's confidence is nothing.
You have undertaken to cheat me. I won't sue you, for the law is too slow. I'll ruin you.
What do I care about the law? Ain't I got the power?
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.
I am the punishment of God. If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.
The greatest happiness is to vanquish your enemies, to chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth, to see those dear to them bathed in tears.
It is not sufficient that I succeed - all others must fail.
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.
War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.
The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.
The measure of a man is what he does with power.
He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior.
Those who do not learn from history deserve to have it erased.
I am the First Emperor, and my successors shall be numbered accordingly for ten thousand generations.
The empire was won on horseback, but it cannot be governed on horseback.
Burn the books of scholars, and the empire will endure. Burn the knowledge of the people, and the empire will fall.
Words have a magical power. They can bring either the greatest happiness or deepest despair.
In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women.
The world is yours.
You wanna waste my time? Okay. I call my lawyer. He's the best lawyer in Miami. He's such a good lawyer, that by tomorrow morning, you gonna be working in Alaska. So dress warm.
I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse.
I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger.
Say my name.
Tread lightly.
If you don't know who I am, then maybe your best course would be to tread lightly.
I am the one who knocks.
Give me twenty-six soldiers of lead and I will conquer the world.
Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak.
I came, I saw, I conquered.
I would rather be first in a village than second in Rome.
If you must break the law, do it to seize power. In all other cases, observe it.
It is not these well-fed long-haired men that I fear, but the pale and the hungry-looking.
The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class.
Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.
Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it.
In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.
The hero of yesterday becomes the tyrant of tomorrow, unless he crucifies himself today.
The demon that you can swallow gives you its power.
The lawyer with the briefcase can steal more money than the man with the gun.
Never get angry. Never make a threat. Reason with people.
The nation that secures control of the air will ultimately control the world.
The principle that the end justifies the means is and remains the only rule of political ethics.
Nobody can rule guiltlessly.
The conqueror is always a lover of peace; he would prefer to take over our country unopposed.
