Thou hast seen a farmer's dog bark at a beggar? . . . And the
creature run from the read more

Thou hast seen a farmer's dog bark at a beggar? . . . And the
creature run from the cur. There thou mightst behold the great
image of authority--a dog's obeyed in office.

Those he commands move only in command,
Nothing in live. Now does he feel his title
Hang read more

Those he commands move only in command,
Nothing in live. Now does he feel his title
Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe
Upon a dwarfish thief.

Authority intoxicates,
And makes mere sots of magistrates;
The fumes of it invade the brain,
read more

Authority intoxicates,
And makes mere sots of magistrates;
The fumes of it invade the brain,
And make men giddy, proud, and vain.

Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.

Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.

Merciful heaven,
Thou rather with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt
Splits the unwedgeable and gnarled oak
read more

Merciful heaven,
Thou rather with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt
Splits the unwedgeable and gnarled oak
Than the soft myrtle; but man, proud man,
Dressed in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he's most assured
His glassy essence--like an angry ape
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As makes the angels weep; who, with our spleens,
would all themselves laugh mortal.

The weaker the man in authority... the stronger his insistence that all his privileges be acknowledged.

The weaker the man in authority... the stronger his insistence that all his privileges be acknowledged.

Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.

Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.

All authority must be out of a man's self, turned . . . either
upon an art, or upon read more

All authority must be out of a man's self, turned . . . either
upon an art, or upon a man.
- Francis Bacon,

If you wish to know what a man is, place him in authority.

If you wish to know what a man is, place him in authority.