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.

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

I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.

I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.

I am certainly not an authority on love because there are no authorities on love, just those who've had luck read more

I am certainly not an authority on love because there are no authorities on love, just those who've had luck with it and those who haven't.

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.

To punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me an authority myself.

To punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me an authority myself.

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,

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.

Authority is never without hate.

Authority is never without hate.