“But sooner or later the oppressed class will argue that its superior virtue is a reason in favour of its having power, and the oppressors will find their own weapons turned against them. When at last power has been equalized, it becomes apparent to everybody that all the talk about superior virtue was nonsense, and that it was quite unnecessary as a basis for the claim to equality.”
“Indifference, Gundhalinu, is the strongest force in the universe. It makes everything it touches meaningless. Love and hate don’t stand a chance against it. It lets neglect and decay and monstrous injustice go unchecked. It doesn’t act, it allows. And that’s what gives it so much power.”
“As soon as this stage was reached and the ex-love lost his or her appeal, those suffering from abiding heartache could finally let go of their obsession, for love loves power. That is why we can suicidally fall in love with others but can rarely reciprocate the love of those suicidally in love with us.”
“... this system we call the transnational world order is just feudalism all over again, a set of rules that is anti-ecologic, it does not give back but rather enriches a floating international elite while impoverishing everything else, and so of course the so-called rich elite are in actuality poor as well, disengaged from real human work and therefore from real human accomplishment, parasitical in the most precise sense, and yet powerful too as parasites that have taken control can be, sucking the gifts of human work away from their rightful recipients which are the seven generations, and feeding on them while increasing the repressive powers that keep them in place!”
“In the Adaptive Markets framework, complexity means we don t have a good narrative for the system. The solution is obvious: we need to get smarter. Complexity can sometimes be reduced by developing a deeper understanding of the underlying structure of the system. For example, now that we understand the potential for liquidity spirals in statarb portfolios, thanks to August 2007, we can better prepare for them. But the Adaptive Markets framework points to a second problem with complexity, which is the potential divisiveness of special knowledge and the potential for conflict. If the financial system becomes so complex that only a small number of elites truly understand its function and proper maintenance, this knowledge divides the population into those who know and those who don t. Of course, this situation arises with any piece of unique information - I know how to make scallion pancakes in a particular way so they re crispy on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside, and you probably don t. But that piece of knowledge is hardly worth keeping a secret, and the fact that you don t have that knowledge isn t going to get you too upset. But suppose I know how to cure diabetes and you don t. Or I know how to prevent cancer by avoiding certain common foods and you don t. Or I know how to price mortgage-backed securities and credit default swaps and you don t. In these cases, the knowledge I possess confers a certain power and status to me. Complexity creates the need for better narratives and those who have those narratives will become the high priests of complex systems, the gatekeepers of critical, life-altering knowledge. And the difficulty in joining the priesthood - earning an MD/Ph.D. in molecular biology and having twenty year of work experience at biotech and pharmaceutical companies, in the case of curing diabetes - coupled with the societal values of the special knowledge will determine the divisiveness of this elitism.”
“Fish? The little fish eats the tiny fish, The big fish eats the little fish-- So only the biggest fish get fat. Do you know any folks like that?”
“We are God’s dissidents every time we respond in offices, in communities, in churches, in schools, and in any areas of abuse. We do this as a part of systems, many of them with good and godly aims. We must not go to sleep. We must watch. We must not assume that our family, church, community, country, or organization is always right just because the people in it use the right words. We must never agree to “protect” the name of God by covering ungodliness. In Ephesians 5:11, Paul warns us not to participate in the deeds of darkness but instead to expose them. Understand that you cannot singlehandedly change an entire system; you are not called to do so. Yet we are to speak truth about our systems. This is difficult to do and sometimes quite risky. Just ask Martin Luther King Jr. Ask Martin Luther himself. Ask those in the #MeToo movement. When systems change, it is often little by little and usually at great cost. When you feel overwhelmed, remember this: people are sacred, created in the image of God. Systems are not. They are only worth the people in them and the people they serve. And people are to be treated, whether one or many, the way Jesus Christ treated people.”
“There are things that u can’t say or joke about as a leader and this is not about not being your self, it’s about understanding your position as a representative. What you do and say eats on your rating points. Understanding of your supporting structure is the key and it’s necessary to understand every little pillar and it’s building blocks. Remember that Power is toxic, u can’t taste it and remain the same .”
“We knew that in spite of daily mounting risks we had no choice but to move forward. This was evil s hour: we could not run away from it. Perhaps only when human effort had done its best and failed, would God s power alone be free to work.”
“Some people had too much power and too much cruelty to live. Some people were too terrible, no matter if you loved them; no matter that you had to make yourself terrible, too in order to stop them. Some things just had to be done.”
“Among the means of power that now prevail is the power to manage and to manipulate the consent of men. That we do not know the limits of such power—and that we hope it does have limits—does not remove the fact that much power today is successfully employed without the sanction of the reason or the conscience of the obedient.”
“50 Cent is a master player at power, a kind of hip-hop Napoleon Bonaparte.”
“Her focus was on the king. You sit up in your castle, worrying about nothing! Nothing but yourself and you should be ashamed. You lie to this kingdom,”
“If you let lesser people determine your self-worth, you ll never reach higher than their limited imagination.”
“Power and recklessness are a dangerous combination.”
“You will be ensuring slavery and death for Grisha everywhere,” Inej said. Van Eck raised a brow. “How old are you, girl? Sixteen? Seventeen? Nations rise and fall. Markets are made and unmade. When power shifts, someone always suffers.” “When profit shifts,” Jesper shot back. Van Eck’s expression was bemused. “Aren’t they one and the same?”
“Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.”