Power is interesting—an almost tangible phenomenon.

People crave power relative to their image of themselves. What seems like a small amount to you may be enormous to another.

According to Margaret Thatcher, “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”

Alice Walker warns that “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”

Of course, a lot of people have just quit thinking, so they don’t have to worry about their power.

Francis Bacon tells us that “Knowledge is power,” but doesn’t mention that knowledge requires more than book-leaning and texting.

Napoleon said “Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me.” Wow, he would make a great hedge fund manager, don’t you think?

Abraham Lincoln warns that “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

Sadly, most have failed the test.

As usual, the best wisdom about power is old.

In the mid 1600s Blaise Pascal said, “Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just,” but it will be a cold day in hell when that happens.

But It was Lao Tzu who best summed up power 2500 years ago when he said, “He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.”

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Image credit: SK-y Photography on flickr

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 26th, 2009 at 1:30 am and is filed under About Leadership, Culture, Quotable Quotes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Tags: lao tzu, power, success
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