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

August 27, 2025
If…a rulership aims not at the common good of the multitude, but at the private good of the ruler, it will be an unjust and perverted rulership.
February 9, 2025
In framing a government, which is to administered by men, over men, the great difficulty lies in this
July 2, 2025
Fame is a vapor; popularity is an accident; the only earthly certainty is oblivion.
Page 75 of 124