Quotes on Power by Bangambiki Habyarimana

ON POWER

1. Nothing is sweeter and addictive than power, the unlucky soul this demon possesses, if he is not sacrificed on its altar will sacrifice others himself to get it.

- Bangambiki Habyarimana

2. Beware of "don'ts", "thou shalt" and the like. These are signals of programming attempts at your brain. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

3. If anyone rises to power, it's not only because he could, but also because the stars were aligned in his favor. Many with apparent means to take it failed simply because they weren't destined for the honor. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

4. Once you are in power, never forget those who put you there. Deal with those who think they can do better than you and those who think you are god's representative on earth. Deal with each other according to his actions. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

5. It's the duty of every man to free himself.  Never accept to live an underdog's life in god’s world. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

6. Let no one ever intimidate you, you are standing on no one's ground. But again, some have claimed the earth as their own and usurped power from the rest of us. But they are usurpers; power belongs to every one of us. Seek it as much as possible. There is no shame in that. In fact it's a necessity. Either you have power or you are trampled to death in the stampede to get to the top. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

7. Every revolution starts with the aim to help the poor, but when the poor get it they forget who they were and become the new oppressors. The cycle goes on forever. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

8. Politicians know it's a game of power, every politician at every level, even in the common of mortals. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

9. Power hungry=life loving. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

10. Powerless=lifeless. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

11. Happiness increases and decreases depending on the level of power one has. When you have more power, more control on your life, you feel more happy and self-confident, as your power decreases and the control of your life slips away, you get less and less happy and when you no longer have any power to rely on you reach depression and despair. This is the point where your power meter has hit 0. You now need to rely on the good favors of others to live. For those who believe in the power of god, it sustains them through this dark hour. For those who do not believe, they think they have reached the end and may take their lives. That's why all conflict in life is about power and many lose life in its pursuit. Power is life itself. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

12. Some people will submit to you only in order to get what they want from you. If it is power that they wanted, once they have managed to separate it from you, they will turn against you and turn you into their slaves. Take care to discover the true intentions of men beforehand. Men are experts at hiding their true selves. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

13. Globalization is an attempt to create one global country, and according to the laws of power politics, the greatest nations will take the lead and reap the most benefits from the effort. For those who believe globalization’s aim is to foster equal opportunity among nations, I am sorry; there is no free lunch in human affairs. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

14. Nobody who wants power will ever be happy. You still want more, and you have to snatch it from hands that tightly hold on it. The power hungry is in a perpetual combat to get more. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

15. When we are healthy, wealthy and powerful, we forget about our mortality. It’s only when irreparable cracks set in that we come back to reality. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

16. Life is politics, you do it or it does you. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

17. In politics what you see is not what you get. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

18. The Golden Mean is for the weakling, it was not meant for the likes of Alexander the Great, Cyrus, Pharaohs, or Hitlers of the world. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

19. Good at the wrong place and time becomes evil; evil in the right place and time becomes good. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

20. There are places where you can live only when you are healthy, in those places when you fall ill it's the end of you for most people there can’t afford medical care. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

21. The universe runs on the principle that one who can exert the most evil on other creatures runs the show. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

22. Can anyone maintain power without lying? It looks to me like living without breathing. Morality apart, I think some evils are part and parcel of nature and we cannot do without them. Sometimes evil is even necessary to run this evil nature. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

23.What we call evil sometimes depends on point of views. The one at the receiving end calls it evil while the inflicting party considers it the best thing he can do.

24. The giving hand is considered powerful; the receiving hand is considered weak. It’s better to give than to receive. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

25. Soldier= sacrifice on the altar of power. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

26. Politician= close your eyes and I will lead you, I know better. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

27. King= a man who excels in killing until he terrorizes everybody into submission. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

28. In some countries, pertaining to the opposition qualifies you as official enemy of the state and by that designation the state is in its right to defend itself. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

29. It's unfortunate to be bitten by political ambition. The deadly disease causes a man to want to access power by all means either by sacrificing others to its altar or by sacrificing himself when he fails. - Bangambiki Habyarimana

30. What some politicians really mean when they say

this country: me, my party, my ethnic group

international justice is biased: they want to arrest me

terrorists: opposition

illegal immigrants: refugees

elections: remaining in power

peace: eliminating the opposition

international community: powerful countries

the people: sympathizers of my party

it’s for your interest: it’s for my interests

I am here to serve you: I am here to serve myself

we were attacked: we attacked first

the economy has improved: the rich got more money, the poor got poorer

we won the election: we made an electoral coup

I removed a dictator: I intend to replace him and keep power for myself

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

31. “Most politicians would love to lead politically blind people.”

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

Some politicians hate arguments, they want their ideas to be law. They prefer blind people who accept everything they say. They want to be gods, they act as ones. If the people are naturally blind, well and good, but if they are not, they will be forced to be through coercion and manipulation. They will be forced to be blind by the way they treat those who dared to open their eyes and see what they shouldn’t have seen. Political correctness is euphemism for "fear to speak truth to authority"

32. The world will not become truly peaceful until its leaders are able to save men from their self-destructive instincts.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

33. A government is a band of hypnotists; they hate people who open their eyes during session.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

34. The lack of power is the source of all unhappiness.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

35. There are many languages in the world but the most widely spoken and understood by everyone are power, love and money.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

36. The boundary between good and evil is clearer for common folks but gets blurred more and more as people get more power over their fellows.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

37. Everybody would be a dictator if he could.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

38. Power is a treacherous sword. When used masterfully, it serves you; if you are an amateur it destroys you

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

39. Power and love can break the most stubborn résistance

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

40. Well-crafted lies rule the world.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

41. Only the weak hit the fly with a hammer.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

42. You need to have the means to impose yourself.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

You rule because you can, not because you wish. Therefore if you want power, you must secure the means to access it. Look at what professionals do to impose themselves. The world is full of examples. Countries and individuals are amassing resources so that they can impose their will on others. This is not a world for the fainthearted; it is world for the powerful, the ruthless, and the cruel. You are in or you are out.

43. Some enemies are part and parcel of our lives; we cannot destroy them without risking our own survival

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

44. Many people take a very low view of politicians, but that is exactly how they conduct their social interactions daily.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

45. Arrogance is the last thing to die

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

46. Divide and rule, weaken and conquer, love and enslave, these are three tenets of politics.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

47. Politics is the art of promising heaven and delivering purgatory, and claiming hero status for saving your country from hell.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

48. War is the art of killing each other brutally; diplomacy is the art of killing each other softly.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

49. A politician will promise the moon but deliver an ant hill

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

50. The powerful makes laws for all to obey but he breaks them all

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

51. Politicians look for interests not people

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

51. A comedian is better than a politician; at least there is no doubt.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

52. Politicians are a higher breed of men. They know that this world is ruthless and that they must live accordingly to cope with it

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

53. A politician is a man in his natural state

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

True politicians see things clearly than the average man. A true politician is a man connected to nature; his views are not distorted by utopia but served by it. That is why we don’t understand their actions. A true politician is larger than life; he sees things from a divine view point.

54. Sincerity is not part of the political vocabulary. If it is used or implied bells should ring

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

55. Slavery has not been abolished, it has been sanitized

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

56. The powerful are like rats, they bite you and when you bleed they bind your wounds and make you believe they love you

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

57. This world runs on power. People are busy charging their batteries. They charge their spiritual economic, political, emotional batteries. The people whose batteries are down can't function and are cast aside.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

58. An angry enemy is a conquered enemy

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

59. Politicians are a breed of the human race who believes they are gods.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

60. Politicians are not afraid of their mistakes, they are afraid their mistakes will not succeed

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

61. Politicians are masters in the art of mixing truth and deceit and serving the deadly cocktail to the public as a panacea to their problems

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

62. The powerful are like a compressor, they will grind into paste everything on their way

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

63. The powerful hate truth that put them in bad light

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

64. All of the wars in the world are fueled by power struggles either at individual, national or international levels

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

65. There is no power that is not challenged, either overtly or covertly. Somebody always wants to be in your place

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

66. You should never consider finished a war you did not win

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

67. Individuals are asked to be good but governments are required to be evil. A good government is considered to be weak

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

68. The state protects the individual, but who will protect the state? That's the reason states are ruthless, that's why they kill a fly with a hammer

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

69. All you need to be recognized as an authority is to be recognized by a recognized authority

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

70. The strengths of an organization lie in respecting its own rules

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

71. You cannot wield real power if the sword is in the hands of another man

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

72. It's useless to disarm the hands, if the heart remains armed

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

73. We are moved by self-interest, even when we seek to do good.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

74. Fear drives out love

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

75. Hypocrisy is power

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

Hypocrisy is like camouflage that some animals use to hide themselves from predators and possible victims. Men use it to hide what they really are to get what they want.

76. Apparently you don't need to believe in what you teach

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

77. Life is a war, guerrilla warfare, the strategy

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

78. If you think you can't, you're right

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

79. He who does nothing to stop evil condones it

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

80. The silent majority supports status quo

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

81. Money, like power, gives a false sense of security. When lost, one wants to regain it, even unto death

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

82. The powerful have no conscience

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

I think this business of good vs. evil is of no interest to the power hungry. All they want is power, whether they gain it legally or illegally, fairly or deceitfully. I mean all types of powers: political, financial, emotional etc. A power hungry man will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

83. Seek power but carefully hide your intentions

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

84. Life is an invisible stampede

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

85. We have come to an age where it is very hard to know which is truth and which is deceit

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

86. Nobody cares about other peoples’ truths; we only seek to advance our own truths.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

87. Life is a stampede to get to the top

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

Most of the time this stampede is silent and invisible but its effects are there for all to see. Those who manage to run over the heads of others become rich and powerful those who were run over end up in shanty towns, homeless on the streets, flee the country or die of curable diseases.

88. The winning warrior frees himself and enslaves the conquered

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

89. Wisdom is to understand the world as it really is and live accordingly, not as we wish it to be

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

The wise don’t live in Utopia, they have their feet firm on the real ground. They know the true nature of life; they observe nature and act accordingly. They know what life really means, they observe how nature behaves, what man’s real intentions are instead of what they should be. No wonder the most successful among us present themselves as good but act ruthlessly.

90. Cultural colonization is the softest way to kill a people's identity

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

91. Power writes history, not scribes

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

92. Don't boast of your power, it may be the source of your downfall

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

93. Freedom is the right to make a fool of yourself and create an organization of like-minded fools.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

94. You should never consider finished a war you've lost

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

Losing a war does not mean losing the reason for it. If you believe the reason you entered a war are still valid, losing it does not invalidate your reasons. Your enemy may have had superior firepower, and won a material battle, but he hadn’t won the spiritual battle. For bullets cannot pierce ideas. You may even submit you bodies to the conqueror to avoid annihilation while keeping you spiritual opposition intact.

95. The best way to destroy your enemies is to make them adopt your worldview

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

96. Live as if you were a country and other people as other nations. Then learn politics.

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

97. Peace is something you only have when your enemy is gone. Either after you have turned him into a friend or vanquished him

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

98. A good head and a bad heart make a good politician

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

99. Show your willingness to serve and you will be served

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

100. Government and country are two different things. Never distrust your country. Always probe the government

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

101. People rule over us not because of what they know, but because of who they know. They don't work for us but for their bosses. The job of the media is to teach us to believe the contrary

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

102. The most intelligent people in the world pretend to serve you but in effect use you to serve themselves

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

103. True freedom is not having a master, but to make the master your slave

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

104. Know how to use other people means to your own advantage

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

105. In leadership, the way up is down. Serve before you get served

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

106. If you want to be extremely important in people's lives, give them extremely good services they can't find anywhere else

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

107. Liberty in words, whip in action

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

108. You've won the territory; now win the mind

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

109. The weak has no pity

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

110. Mediocre minds rule the world

― Bangambiki Habyarimana

111. You don’t need permission to live your life. ― Bangambiki Habyarimana

112. Consider yourself a king in your own kingdom and a god in your own universe. ― Bangambiki Habyarimana

113. Consider yourself as having all the powers necessary to create and to have what you want. ― Bangambiki Habyarimana