Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Douglas Adams

Quote by Douglas Adams

Author

Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams was a British writer best known for his science fiction series 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. His work is celebrated for its unique humor and profound philosophical insights, making it a favorite among readers. Adams' novels often contain satirical commentary on modern society and deep reflections on the human condition. more

You May Also Like

“Our minds become slaves to those we see as having total power to control us and to cause pain to us. We are quick to give up control of ourselves to those who have the power to rule us as long as they also have the power to feed us. This is the fundamental construct of a feudal society.”

PoliticsWorkWealthPowerRichGiving UpCapitalismEconomicsSlaveryCompromiseEmploymentControlJobRulingWork HardWorkingFeudalismRuling ClassFeudal
Book:The First Dancer: How to be the first among equals and attract unlimited opportunities
Create image

“Threats are useless unless you have previously committed the level of violence your [sic] are threatening to use. Make examples of the enemies you cannot control so those that you can will be cowed. This is the foundation of ruling.” – Extract from the personal memoirs of Dread Emperor Terribilis II”

HumorPoliticsPowerFantasyRulingPraesiDread Emperor EmpressFictional QuotesChapter 10Terribilis Ii
Book:So You Want to Be a Villain?
Create image

“I mean to give the smallfolk peace and food and justice. If that will not suffice to win their love, let Mushroom make a progress. Or perhaps we might send a dancing bear. Someone once told me that the commons love nothing half so much as dancing bears. You may call a halt to this feast tonight as well. Send the lords home to their own keeps and give the food to the hungry. Full bellies and dancing bears shall be my policy. - Aegon III”

HappinessProgressWelfareRuling
Book:The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones
Create image

“When people have rejected aristocracy, no longer believe that leadership is inherited at birth, no longer assume that the ruling class is endorsed by God, the argument about who gets to rule--who is the elite--is never over. For a long time, some people in Europe and North America settled on the idea that various forms of democratic, meritocratic, and economic competition are the fairest alternative to inherited or ordained power. But even in countries that were never occupied by the Red Army and never ruled by Latin American populists, democracy and free markets can produce unsatisfying outcomes, especially when badly regulated, or when nobody trusts the regulators, or when people are entering the contest from very different starting points. The losers of these competitions were always, sooner or later, going to challenge the value of the competition itself.”

LeadershipDemocracyCapitalismCompetitionElitesRulersRulingFree Markets
Book:Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism
Create image

“The major problem - one of the major problems, for there are several - on of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them. To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary; anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem. And so this is the situation we find: a succession of Galactic Presidents who so much enjoy the fun and palaver of being in power that they very rarely notice that they're not. And somewhere in the shadows behind them - who? Who can possibly rule if no one who wants to do it can be allowed to?”

GovernmentPresidentLeadersRuling
Book:The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Create image