A quotation from Galileo

Let us grant then that theology is conversant with the loftiest divine contemplation, and occupies the regal throne among sciences by dignity but acquiring the highest authority in this way. If she does not descend to the lower and humbler speculations of the subordinate sciences and has no regard for them because they are not concerned with blessedness, then her professors should not arrogate to them-selves the authority to decide on controversies in professions which they have neither studied nor practiced. Why, this would be as if an absolute despot, being neither a physician nor an architect but knowing himself free to command, should undertake to administer medicines and erect buildings according to his whim — at grave peril of his poor patients’ lives, and the speedy collapse of his edifices.
 
[Ora, se la teologia, occupandosi nell’altissime contemplazioni divine e risedendo per dignità nel trono regio, per lo che ella è fatta di somma autorità, non discende alle più basse ed umili speculazioni delle inferiori scienze, anzi, come di sopra si è dichiarato, quelle non cura, come non concernenti alla beatitudine, non dovrebbono i ministri e i professori di quella arrogarsi autorità di decretare nelle professioni non essercitate né studiate da loro; perché questo sarebbe come se un principe assoluto, conoscendo di poter liberamente comandare e farsi ubbidire, volesse, non essendo egli né medico né architetto, che si medicasse e fabbricasse a modo suo, con grave pericolo della vita de’ miseri infermi, e manifesta rovina degli edifizi.]

Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, polymath
Letter (1615) to Christina of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany [tr. Drake (1957)]

More about this quote: wist.info/galileo-de-galilei/4…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #galileo #galileogalilei #authority #fiat #fieldofstudy #religion #science #theologian #theology

A quotation (not) from John Adams

Because power corrupts, society’s demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founder, statesman; US President (1797–1801)
(Misattributed)

More about this quote: wist.info/adams-john/36561/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #johnadams #authority #character #corruption #democracy #expectations #moralcharacter #morality #power #powercorrupts

A quotation from Richard Steele

It is not only paying wages, and giving commands, that constitutes a master of a family; but prudence, equal behavior, with a readiness to protect and cherish them, is what entitles man to that character in their very hearts and sentiments.

Richard Steele (1672–1729) Anglo-Irish writer, journalist, playwright, politician
Essay (1711-10-22), The Spectator, No. 202

More about this quote: wist.info/steele-richard/86490…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #richardsteele #authority #command #family #household #incharge #leadership #master #paterfamilias

A quotation from Mark Twain

A statesman gains little by the arbitrary exercise of iron-clad authority upon all occasions that offer, for this wounds the just pride of his subordinates, and thus tends to undermine his strength. A little concession, now and then, where it can do no harm, is the wiser policy.

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Novel (1889), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Part 3 “The Tale of the Lost Land,” ch. 17 “A Royal Banquet”

More about this quote: wist.info/twain-mark/86459/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #twain #marktwain #connecticutyankee #abuseofpower #arbitrariness #authority #concession #diplomacy #employee #power #pride #statesman #subordinate #temperance

A quotation from Hemingway

And we in America should see that no man is ever given, no matter how gradually or how noble and excellent the man, the power to put this country into a war which is now being prepared and brought closer each day with all the premeditation of a long planned murder. For when you give power to an executive you do not know who will be filling that position when the time of crisis comes.

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American writer
Essay (1935-09), “Notes on the Next War,” Esquire, Vol. 4, No. 3

More about this quote: wist.info/hemingway-ernest/864…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hemingway #ernesthemingway #authority #avertingwar #checksandbalances #executive #executivepower #president #warmaking

A quotation from Felix Frankfurter

This Court sits to interpret, in appropriate judicial controversies, a Constitution which, in its Bill of Rights, formulates the conditions of a democracy. But democracy is the least static form of society. Its basis is reason, not authority. Formulas embodying vague and uncritical generalizations offer tempting opportunities to evade the need for continuous thought. But so long as men want freedom, they resist this temptation.

Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American jurist, teacher; US Supreme Court Justice (1939–62)
Pennekamp v. Florida, 328 U.S. 331, 350–351 (1946)
[concurring]

More about this quote: wist.info/frankfurter-felix/86…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #felixfrankfurter #abstraction #oversimplification #generalization #authority #formula #billofrights #Constitution #democracy #dynamics #freedom #generalization #judicialsystem #justice #reason #rubric #SCOTUS #thoughtfulness

A quotation from Orwell

The weakness of the child is that it starts with a blank sheet. It neither understands nor questions the society in which it lives, and because of its credulity other people can work upon it, infecting it with the sense of inferiority and the dread of offending against mysterious, terrible laws.

George Orwell (1903–1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1948-06), “‘Such, Such Were the Joys …’,” Partisan Review (1952-09)

More about this quote: wist.info/orwell-george/35818/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #authority #child #childabuse #childrearing #credulity #inferiority #obedience #tabularasa

A quotation from Diderot

And his hands would plait the priest’s entrails,
For want of a rope, to strangle kings.
 
[Et ses mains ourdiraient les entrailles du prêtre,
Au défaut d’un cordon pour étrangler les rois.]

Denis Diderot (1713-1784) French editor, philosopher
Poem (1772), “Les Éleuthéromanes”

Much more about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/diderot-denis/6524/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #diderot #denisdiderot #authority #Christianity #church #clergy #freedom #king #liberty #monarchy #priest #priesthood #rebellion #revolution #royalty #strangulation #tyranny

A quotation from Twain

To be vested with enormous authority is a fine thing; but to have the onlooking world consent to it is a finer.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Novel (1889), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Part 3 “The Tale of the Lost Land,” ch. 8 “The Boss”

More about this quote: wist.info/twain-mark/39269/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #twain #marktwain #connecticutyankee #buyin #agreement #authority #consent #consentofthegoverned #democracy #popularopinion #popularity #power #support

The UK does authority in a deceptive manner. Do you want Government to control your information sources always, sometimes, or are you unsure? #UK #authority #control #stopkillingtheinternet

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Screen shot of DCMS consultation on promoting mainstream media news on consultations where no ‘oppose’ option is given

A quotation from Ingersoll

The fact is, very few men are right in everything. Great virtues may draw attention from defects, but they cannot sanctify them. A pebble surrounded by diamonds remains a common stone, and a diamond surrounded by pebbles is still a gem. No one should attempt to refute an argument by pronouncing the name of some man, unless he is willing to adopt all the ideas and beliefs of that man. It is better to give reasons and facts than names. An argument should not depend for its force upon the name of its author. Facts need no pedigree, logic has no heraldry, and the living should not awed by the mistakes of the dead.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1881-05-01) “The Great Infidels,” Booth’s Theater, New York

More about this quote: wist.info/ingersoll-robert-gre…

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A quotation from The Bible

No one can stand a person who talks too long and will not give others a chance to speak.
 
ὁ πλεονάζων λόγῳ βδελυχθήσεται,
καὶ ὁ ἐνεξουσιαζόμενος μισηθήσεται.

The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 22b. Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 20: 8ff (Sir 20:8) [tr. GNT (1992 ed.)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/bible-ot/84583/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bible #oldtestament #apocrypha #baruch #ecclesiasticus #authority #chatter #loquaciousness #pretending #pretense #speaking #talking #usurpation #wordiness

Accountability is under the microscope. 🔬

👉 https://open.substack.com/pub/brywillis634737/p/the-disambiguation-cost-of-accountability?r=pvxh5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=masto&showWelcomeOnShare=true

I have long been suspicious of the grammar of accountability, so I am considering publishing an essay on the topic. Much has already been written about this weasel word, a favoured spirit animal by corporations and now adopted by the AI Ethics cohorts.

#philosophy #language #accountability #governance #ethics #aiethics #institutions #authority #substack #blog #essay #ontologicalgrammar #languageinsufficiency #lih

Anyone who tells you to trust authority is your enemy and the servant of your slaver.

#Authority #Patronage #Freedom