There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.
- John Adams [1772]

It is weakness rather than wickedness which renders men unfit to be trusted with unlimited power.
- John Adams [1788]

The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing.
- John Adams

The problem with American power is not that it is American. The problem is simply the power. It would be dangerous even for an archangel to wield so much power.
- Timothy Garton Ash, Oxford historian [New York Times, April 9, 2002]

We thought, because we had power, we had wisdom.
- Stephen Vincent Benet

It would be some time before I fully realized that the United States sees little need for diplomacy. Power is enough. Only the weak rely on diplomacy ... The Roman Empire had no need for diplomacy. Nor does the United States.
- Boutros Boutros-Ghali

Give government the weapons to fight your enemy and it will use them against you.
- Harry Browne

Now those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth, and let me remind you they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyranny.
- Barry Goldwater

The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.
- William Hazlitt

Those in possession of absolute power can not only prophesy and make their prophecies come true, but they can also lie and make their lies come true.
- Eric Hoffer

I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.
- Thomas Jefferson

In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.
- Thomas Jefferson

All men having power ought to be mistrusted.
- James Madison

Power always has to be kept in check; power exercised in secret, especially under the cloak of national security, is doubly dangerous.
- William Proxmire

Power, after all, is not just military strength. It is the social power that comes from democracy, the cultural power that comes from freedom of expression and research, the personal power that entitles every Arab citizen to feel that he or she is in fact a citizen, and not just a sheep in some great shepherd's flock.
- Edward Said (1935-2003)

Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth.
- Publius Cornelius Tacitus

It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.
- Thomas Sowell

Occupants of public offices love power and are prone to abuse it.
- George Washington [Farewell Address]

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.
- George Washington

Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.
- Daniel Webster