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.
As a nation, we may take pride in the fact that we are softhearted; but we cannot afford to be soft-headed.
I'm not interested in anybody's guilt. Guilt is a luxury that we can no longer afford. I know you didn't do it, and I didn't do it either, but I am responsible for it because I am a man and a citizen of this country and you are responsible for it, too, for the very same reason... Anyone who is trying to be conscious must begin to dismiss the vocabulary which we've used so long to cover it up, to lie about the way things are.
I would rather be adorned by beauty of character than jewels. Jewels are the gift of fortune, while character comes from within.
Everybody since the '60s has been saying the nation is a fiction - the nation is an imaginary unity - but people didn't connect the dots and say all human endeavours sprang from the same principle.
It occurs to me as I write that this "white light," usually presented dippily (evidence of afterlife, higher power), is in fact precisely consistent with the oxygen deficit that occurs as blood flow to the brain decreases. "Everything went white," those whose blood pressure has dropped say of the instant before they faint.
Magic never dies. It merely fades away.
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