Tyranny

"'Tis time to fear, when tyrants seem to kiss."

"I knew him tyrannous, and tyrants' fears Decrease not, but grow faster than the years."

"For what is he they follow? truly, gentlemen, A bloody tyrant, and a homicide: One rais'd in blood, and one in blood establish'd; One that made means to come by what he hath, And slaughter'd those that were the means to help him; A base foul stone, made precious by the foil Of England's chair, where he is falsely set; One that hath ever been God's enemy."

"Magistrates in some acts may be guilty of tyranny, and yet retain the power of magistracy; but tyrants cannot be capable of magistracy, nor any one of the scripture-characters of righteous rulers. They cannot retain that which they have forfeited, and which they have overturned; and usurpers cannot retain that which they never had."

"The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny."

"Tyranny always has its rationale."

"Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."

"When government is unjustly exercised by one man who seeks personal profit from his position instead of the good of the community subject to him, such a ruler is called a tyrant."

"When what is ordered by an authority is opposed to the object for which that authority was constituted, ... one is obliged to disobey it, as did the holy martyrs who suffered death rather than obey the impious commands of tyrants."

"One who liberates his country by killing a tyrant is to be praised and rewarded."

"Better a century of tyranny than one day of chaos."

"One must distinguish well arbitrariness from tyranny. Tyranny can be exercised by means of law itself, and then is not arbitrariness; arbitrariness can be exercised in the interest of the governed, and then it is not tyrannical."

"Remember, I have not appointed you as commanders and tyrants over the people. I have sent you as leaders instead, so that the people may follow your example. Give the Muslims their rights and do not beat them lest they become abused. Do not praise them unduly, lest they fall into the error of conceit. Do not keep your doors shut in their faces, lest the more powerful of them eat up the weaker ones. And do not behave as if you were superior to them, for that is tyranny over them."

"Plutocracy is an established fact not only when rich men and women rule the state but also when they rule the company and the factory. ... Still, the tyranny of money is less frightening than the kinds of tyranny that have their origins on the other side of the money/politics divide. Certainly, plutocracy is less frightening than totalitarianism; resistance is less dangerous. The chief reason for the difference is that money can buy power and influence, as it can buy office, education, honor and so on, without radically coordinating the various distributive spheres and without eliminating alternative processes and agents. ... Corrupt distributions coexist with legitimate ones, like prostitution alongside married love. But this is tyranny still, and it can make for harsh forms of domination."

"The English monster, the center of mischief, a shame to the British Chronicle, a pattern for tyranny, murder and hypocrisie, whose bloody Tyranny will quite drown the name of Nero, Caligula, Domitian, having at last attained the height of his Ambition, for Five years space he wallowed in the blood of many Gallant and Heroick Persons."

"A king ruleth as he ought, a tyrant as he lists, a king to the profit of all, a tyrant only to please a few."

"Th' oppressive, sturdy, man-destroying villains, Who ravag'd kingdoms, and laid empires waste, And in a cruel wantonness of power, Thinn'd states of half their people, and gave up To want the rest."

"Tyranny Absolves all faith; and who invades our rights, Howe'er his own commence, can never be But an usurper."

"Think'st thou there is no tyranny but that Of blood and chains? The despotism of vice— The weakness and the wickedness of luxury— The negligence—the apathy—the evils Of sensual sloth—produce ten thousand tyrants, Whose delegated cruelty surpasses The worst acts of one energetic master, However harsh and hard in his own bearing."

"Tyranny Is far the worst of treasons. Dost thou deem None rebels except subjects? The prince who Neglects or violates his trust is more A brigand than the robber-chief."

"N'est-on jamais tyran qu'avec un diadème?"

"Tyran, descends du trône et fais place à ton maître."

"Tremblez, tyrans, vous êtes immortels."

"There is nothing more hostile to a city than a tyrant, under whom in the first and chiefest place, there are not laws in common, but one man, keeping the law himself to himself, has the sway, and this is no longer equal."

"Il n'appartient, qu'aux tyrans d'être toujours en crainte."

"'Twixt kings and tyrants there's this difference known: Kings seek their subjects' good, tyrants their owne."

"Men are still men. The despot's wickedness Comes of ill teaching, and of power's excess,— Comes of the purple he from childhood wears, Slaves would be tyrants if the chance were theirs."

"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God."

"Quid violentius aure tyranni?"

"Les habiles tyrans ne sont jamais punis."

"A company of tyrants is inaccessible to all seductions."

"The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice."