The reputation of power IS power.
Interpretation
Power derives its strength from the reputation and perception it holds in society.
This quote by Thomas Hobbes suggests that the influence and authority associated with power are largely contingent upon how it is perceived by others. In other words, the mere reputation of having power can yield real power; it shapes interactions, behaviors, and societal dynamics significantly, implying that perception can be as important as reality in matters of power and authority.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about political authority and its societal implications.
Baptism is the sacrament of allegiance of them that are to be received into the Kingdom of God, that is to say, into Eternal life, that is to say, to Remission of Sin. For as Eternal life was lost by the committing, so it is recovered by the remitting of men's sins.
Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues.
For it is not the shape, but their use, that makes them angels.
For to accuse requires less eloquence, such is man's nature, than to excuse; and condemnation, than absolution, more resembles justice.
Scientia potentia est, sed parva; quia scientia egregia rara est, nec proinde apparens nisi paucissimis, et in paucis rebus. Scientiae enim ea natura est, ut esse intelligi non possit, nisi ab illis qui sunt scientia praediti.
The end of knowledge is power ... the scope of all speculation is the performing of some action or thing to be done.
What are the stars but points in the body of God where we insert the healing needles of our terror and longing?
My aunt once said that the world would never find peace until men fell at their women's feet and asked for forgiveness.
I am an Epicurean. I consider the genuine (not the imputed) doctrines of Epicurus as containing everything rational in moral philosophy which Greece and Rome have left us.
A steady patriot of the world alone, The friend of every country but his own.
To me, Faith is not just a noun but also a verb
You were always uncomfortable with the rhetoric of emotion, which is quite a different matter from discomfort with emotion itself.
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