I have been called the most powerful woman in the world, but I have on occasion lacked even the power of speech, because although we have crossed the threshold into a new century, there are still too many questions for which we have no answers. Madeleine K. Albright, Farewell Remarks at U.S. Department of State; January 19, 2001; Washington, DC

Pick a man for his human qualities, his values, his compatibility with you, rather than what he represents in status, power or good looks. Carol Botwin

Undeserved praise causes more pangs of conscience later than undeserved blame, but probably only for this reason, that our power of judgment are more completely exposed by being over praised than by being unjustly underestimated. Friedrich Nietzsche

Habit and routine have an unbelievable power to waste and destroy. Henri de Lubac

Genius hath electric power which earth can never tame. Lydia M. Child

I was going to buy a copy of The Power of Positive Thinking, and then I thought What the hell good would that do Ronnie Shakes

When I was young, I used to think that wealth and power would bring me happiness... I was right. Gahan Wilson

The power of choosing good and evil is within the reach of all. Origen

The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves. William Hazlitt

The greatest of all gifts is the power to estimate things at their true worth. La Rochefoucauld

To know the pains of power, we must go to those who have it; to know its pleasures, we must go to those who are seeking it. The pains of power are real; its pleasures imaginary. C. C. Colton

The most extensive computation known has been conducted over the last billion years on a planet-wide scale: it is the evolution of life. The power of this computation is illustrated by the complexity and beauty of its crowning achievement, the human brain. David Rogers, Weather Prediction Using a Genetic Memory

The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting. Milan Kundera, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty. John Adams, Journal, 1772

The mind has exactly the same power as the hands not merely to grasp the world, but to change it. Colin Wilson

Tell them dear, that if eyes were made for seeing,Then beauty is its own excuse for beingWhy thou wert there, O rival of the roseI never sought to ask, I never knewBut, in my simple ignorance supposeThe selfsame power that brought me there brought you. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The love of liberty is the love of others the love of power is the love of ourselves. William Hazlitt

Whether a man is burdened by power or enjoys power whether he is trapped by responsibility or made free by it whether he is moved by other people and outer forces or moves them -- this is of the essence of leadership. Theodore Harold White

For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imaginations, we learned to talk. Stephen Hawking

We should seek by all means in our power to avoid war, by analysing possible causes, by trying to remove them, by discussion in a spirit of collaboration and good will. I cannot believe that such a programme would be rejected by the people of this country, even if it does mean the establishment of personal contact with the dictators. Neville Chamberlain

( quotes are updated each month )