And art made tongue-tied by authority.
But man, proud man,
Drest in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he's most assured,
His glassy essence, like an angry ape,
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As make the angels weep.
O, what authority and show of truth
Can cunning sin cover itself withal!
Small have continual plodders ever won
Save base authority from others' books.
These earthly godfathers of heaven's lights
That give a name to every fixed star
Have no more profit of their shining nights
Than those that walk and wot not what they are.
In their nomination to office they will not appoint to the exercise of authority as to a pitiful job, but as to a holy function.
The mere repetition of the Cantilena of lawyers cannot make it law, unless it can be traced to some competent authority; and if it be irreconcilable, to some clear legal principle.
The faith that stands on authority is not faith.
Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.
Truth is the secret of eloquence and of virtue, the basis of moral authority; it is the highest summit of art and of life.
Question Authority... and the Authorities will question you!
Question Authority... and the Authorities will question you!
Destiny: A tyrant's authority for crime and a fool's excuse for failure.
Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.
Liberty is the possibility of doubting, the possibility of making a mistake, the possibility of searching and experimenting, the possibility of saying No to any authority - literary, artistic, philosophic, religious, social, and even political.
Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish.
Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge: fitter to bruise than polish.
Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.
All authority must be out of a man's self, turned . . . either upon an art, or upon a man. - Francis Bacon,
Authority intoxicates, And makes mere sots of magistrates; The fumes of it invade the brain, And make men giddy, proud, and vain.
Authority is never without hate.
Well, I must be patient; there is no fettering of authority.
Thou hast seen a farmer's dog bark at a beggar? . . . And the creature run from the cur. There thou mightst behold the great image of authority--a dog's obeyed in office.
Thus can the demigod Authority Make us pay down for our offense by weight The words of heaven; on whom it will, it will, On whom it will not, so: yet still 'tis just.
Merciful heaven, Thou rather with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt Splits the unwedgeable and gnarled oak Than the soft myrtle; but man, proud man, Dressed in a little brief authority, Most ignorant of what he's most assured His glassy essence--like an angry ape Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven As makes the angels weep; who, with our spleens, would all themselves laugh mortal.