Quotes Library

May 28, 2025

A friend in power is a friend lost.

Henry Adams (1838–1918), American historian, The Education of Henry Adams (1907), Seldes, p.4

How many friends have you lost in the course of your political career? How many have you made? How many of those do you think will remain friends after you leave office?

Substitute spouse, in-law, etc. for friend and it still holds true. Power makes demands on people different from what they have ever experienced before.


More Quotes

February 7, 2025
00:58
I will govern according to the common weal [meaning welfare], but not according to the common will.
May 2, 2025
Conservative, n. A statesman who is enamoured of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal
October 21, 2025
The revolutionary spirit is mightily convenient in this: that it frees one from all scruples as regards ideas.
Page 74 of 124