Robert Payne
Robert Payne
loyalty kings real
In the Middle Ages the king offered protection to his subjects in return for their loyalty, and the subjects were doubly protected, for the church also sheltered them. The need for shelter - for a father image that cares and will hopefully provide and give some meaning to human lives - remains as real as it was in the Middle Ages, but modern technocracy has no place for either the father or the church and provides no substitute.
bored long empires
Long before the empire had reached its greatest extent, the Romans were bored by it.
kings glory pope
All is forgiven to kings and popes. History grants them immunity, even a full pardon, even when they admit their crimes and glory in them.
accomplishment corruption permit
Nietzsche's accomplishment is that he permits us to see corruption from the inside.
dictatorship
A totalitarian dictatorship cannot explain; it can only suppress.
civilization decline fragmentation
Fragmentation occurs when a civilization is in decline.
effectiveness naked corruption
Naked power has its limitations, since power is a generator of corruption and corruption in its turn tends to dilute the effectiveness of power.
liars lying believe
Corrupt men are always liars. Lies are their instruments, their pleasure, their solace. In time they come to believe their lies, or rather to half-believe them.
position-of-power garbage would-be
It is no more rational to have lawyers in positions of power than it would be to have garbage collectors in positions of power. And in human terms garbage collectors would be preferable.
country men blessing
Uncorrupted man, with God's blessing, advances across the fields of the universe as though he were walking down a country lane.
taken men long
Sometimes societies die and putrefy long before they are pronounced dead, and sometimes men die of corruption long before they have taken to their deathbeds.
victory gains helping
It is precisely when we help one another that we gain our victories over corruption, but the victory is assured only when we help one another with all our strength.
government ends domination
For domination has nothing whatsoever to do with good government, and power as an end in itself destroys good government.
united-states population wealth
The United States is dangerously close to being a plutocracy. A third of the private wealth is owned by less than 5 percent of the population.