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The purpose of getting power is to be able to give it away.
Aneurin Bevan
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Power should be used to benefit others rather than hoarded or controlled.

This quote by Aneurin Bevan emphasizes that the essence of true leadership and power lies not in the accumulation of control, but in the ability to empower others. It suggests that the ultimate purpose of obtaining power is to transfer it to those who can benefit from it, fostering a sense of community and shared responsibility.

Themes

PowerLeadershipGivingResponsibilityCommunity

In practice

Example use cases

During a team meeting, to inspire members to take initiative and collaborate.

More from Aneurin Bevan

I know that the right kind of leader for the Labour Party is a desiccated calculating machine who must not in any way permit himself to be swayed by indignation. If he sees suffering, privation or injustice he must not allow it to move him, for that would be evidence of the lack of proper education or of absence of self-control. He must speak in calm and objective accents and talk about a dying child in the same way as he would about the pieces inside an internal combustion engine.
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It is an axiom, enforced by all the experience of the ages, that they who rule industrially will rule politically.
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How can wealth persuade poverty to use its political freedom to keep wealth in power? Here lies the whole art of Conservative politics in the twentieth century.
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He brings to the fierce struggle of politics the tepid enthusiasm of a lazy summer afternoon at a cricket match.
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I have never regarded politics as the arena of morals. It is the arena of interest.
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Stand not too near the rich man lest he destroy thee - and not too far away lest he forget thee.
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