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It’s in the nature of a good despot to say anything that will convince someone to do as he wishes. Only when he does not need them does he really say what he thinks. And by that time, of course, because he has no need of them, they are usually as good as dead. The secret of becoming a successful tyrant lies in an early ability to be all things to all people.

— Michael Moorcock The Steel Tsar (1981)

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More quotes by Michael Moorcock

The albino reflected on the power of the human mind to build a fantasy and then defend it with complete determination as a reality.

The Fortress of the Pearl (1989)

Somewhere you can hear them whimpering, as if the evidence of their own mortality were emphasised by the knowledge of other people’s happiness.

The Lives and Times of Jerry Cornelius (1976)

Everything means nothing—that is the only truth.

To Rescue Tanelorn (1962)

Everything dies eventually—but that shouldn’t stop us enjoying life while it is there to be enjoyed.

The Wrecks of Time aka The Rituals of Infinity (1967)

Redefine the terms by which Man views the world, and thus eventually you redefine the world itself.

The City in the Autumn Stars (1986)

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Attribution

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