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The automatic desire for more power is only apparent in children, primitives, people of low character or intellect; for the superior man, power is like a cross, duty a burden, responsibility an obligation.

— Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn The Menace of the Herd (1943)

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More quotes by Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

Bodies are mutually attracted by nearness, knowledge, and pleasure but souls by distance, mystery, and suffering.

The Menace of the Herd (1943)

The Romantic may be alone, but he is never lonely, and that because of his knowledge of the presence of God.

The Menace of the Herd (1943)

'Welfare State' is a misnomer, for every state must care for the common good.

The Timeless Christian (1969)

Patriotism, not nationalism, should inspire the citizen.

Leftism Revisited (1990)

Generosity is a virtue more frequently found in the small top layers than among the masses. After all, it takes intelligence to suspect that generosity very often pays while egotism does not.

Monarchy and War (2000)

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The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the law of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.

John Adams A Defence of the Constitutions of Government (1787)

There is no governor anywhere; you are all absolutely free. There is no restraint that cannot be escaped.

Robert Anton Wilson

When we see a great man desiring power instead of his real goal we soon recognize that he is sick, or more precisely that his attitude to his work is sick.

Martin Buber What is Man? (1938)

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

C. S. Lewis God in the Dock (1970)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.