"They say that martial law] would have cost my country less than the bloody anarchy which is there now. I can only reply that it is easy to play the prophet a posteriori and that a sovereign may not save his throne by shedding his compatriots' blood. A dictator can, because he acts, because he acts in the name of an ideology which he believes must triumph whatever the price. But a sovereign is not a dictator. There is an alliance between him and his people which he cannot break. A dictator has nothing to hand over. Power lies in him, and in him alone. A sovereign receives a crown and it is his duty to pass it on."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Page 182
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi (Persian: محمدرضا شاه پهلوی, pronounced [mohæmmæd-rezɒː-ʃɒːh-e pæhlæviː]) (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the Shah of the Imperial State of Iran from 1941 until he was deposed in 1979 by the Islamic Revolution. He died in exile in Egypt. His eldest son is Reza Pahlavi.
116 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi →
Related Quotes
"Mossadeq, the orator, is difficult to judge as a politician because of the perpetual contradictions between his words…"
"No doubt history will say that Eisenhower was a soldier. For my part, I will remember, above all, his goodness. He wa…"
"One of my chief "crimes" then, was to have wanted Iran to move from the oil age into the atomic age before it was too…"
"I did not share the enthusiasm of certain politicians for the National Front leader, it was because I had noticed, in…"
"Nikita Khruschev was a difficult man to deal with, often very hard, always determined. But his peasant side which mad…"
"All ideological differences set apart, I cannot help having a sincere admiration for Mr Brezhnev. He is to all appear…"
"My father loved us dearly and deeply. There were eleven of us and our love for him was full of admiration. We held hi…"
"The world petroleum story is one of the most inhuman known to man: in it, elementary moral and social principles are …"
"... the Jewish press in the USA is solely responsible for our poor publicity."
"Henry Kissinger is possessed of a truly superior intelligence, in addition to which he has two qualities which, unfor…"