Best Authoritarian Quotes to Inspire, Uplift & Motivate You Every Day

“All the Cuban government wants to do - and all it's demonstrated to the world - is that they want a repressive, authoritarian control; a Communist dictatorship to continue in the island. So anything that we do to try to help the island ultimately becomes fuel for them to repress their citizens.”

“We very clearly do not want an authoritarian regime... setting standards in the world marketplace.”

“In the face of a rising China, along with authoritarian regimes from Brazil to the Philippines to Turkey to Russia, and the constant presence of belligerent non-state actors, we need to reform our military to deal with asymmetrical threats.”

“I probably will not live to see Turkey become an exemplary democracy, but I pray that the downward authoritarian drift can be stopped before it is too late.”

“As I reflect on the successes and failures of our push for democracy, reading widely in search for a path out of authoritarian rule, I'll keep writing to encourage myself and those on my side.”

“I believe in it so passionately because anywhere you look in the world, where governments become too big or become authoritarian, speech and expression is one of the first fundamental freedoms to go.”

“Few times in history do totalitarian or authoritarian regimes successfully repress their people for more than two generations, and zero times in history do these regimes last much longer than that, relatively speaking.”

“Many Muslim parents are authoritarian, which leaves young men and women with limited spaces to express themselves. Self-expression and autonomy are regarded as symptoms of 'Westernisation.'”

“It is hard to imagine two more final endings to the 'war on terror' than the popular revolts against the authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and the death of bin Laden.”

“Authoritarian blindness is a perennial problem, especially in large countries like China with centralized, top-down administration.”

“In America, we must always place constitutional values over authoritarian control.”

“However vain our entire political class or organizations are, in the name of cynicism we cannot bend towards authoritarian populism.”

“When the 2010 election swept Republicans into office in a massive tidal wave, they were part of a philosophical and ideological change. They were bound by a set of limited-government principles. To be sure, sometimes loosely and imperfectly so, but the Tea Party wave was driven by ideas, not a singular, authoritarian personality.”

“My view of Trump is that, while he has done some extremely noxious things, in general his worst feature, his most authoritarian feature, really is his public presentation.”

“We are not and will never be an authoritarian regime.”

“We do not believe in authoritarian rule.”

“I am a firm believer in open justice, and an opponent of closed justice in any normal circumstances. But I am also an opponent of legal purism, and have no time for institutionalised mythmaking - whether from the authoritarian right or the liberal left.”

“Belarus is a closed, authoritarian system, and the theme of Chernobyl is also a closed topic.”

“Too many countries of the former Soviet bloc remain under the control of authoritarian leaders, including some, like the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who have learned how to maintain a more convincing facade of elections than their communist predecessors.”

“There's a tradition in the history of dissent in authoritarian countries of a certain kind of dissident, and their form of dissent is to live their lives as normally as possible.”

“Universities are some of the few places left where a struggle for the commons, for public life, if not democracy itself, can be made visible through the medium of collective voices and social movements energized by the need for a politics and way of life counter to authoritarian capitalism.”

“Certainly businesses the world over are facing greater competitive pressure than ever before, and this leads to executive stress which, in turn, tends to bring out authoritarian tendencies in many bosses. To balance this, we now know a lot more about how we can successfully cope with a situation that is not likely to improve in the near future.”

“Well, wolves will pretty rarely hunt. You're vulnerable if you're on your own or injured. But for lone wolves, get up high, show them that you're not injured, face 'em off, be authoritarian with it, and look 'em in the eye.”

“History proves that all dictatorships, all authoritarian forms of government are transient. Only democratic systems are not transient. Whatever the shortcomings, mankind has not devised anything superior.”

“The chance to profit from corruption is why many authoritarian leaders seize and cling to power.”

“University of California students can look forward to the same authoritarian management style Secretary Napolitano brought to the Department of Homeland Security, hardly a bastion of free speech and open government.”

“Social media now make it easier to organize protest movements, even - or perhaps especially - in authoritarian regimes.”

“China's leaders seek to subordinate the rights of the individual to the will of the Communist Party. They exert government control over companies and subvert the privacy and freedom of their citizens with an authoritarian surveillance state.”

“I was essentially trained by World War II vets who combined a progressive view of life with a deep distrust of anything authoritarian.”

“Throughout history, people with few educational or economic resources and little bargaining power have often looked to authoritarian, ruthless people to stand up for them.”

“It is true that authoritarian governments increasingly see the Internet as a threat in part because they see the U.S. government behind the Internet.”

“The Trump campaign's promise to detain and deport millions of immigrants, along with many American citizens, is a promise to plunge the country into an authoritarian nightmare. It is also a promise of strife and pervasive civil conflict.”

“Let me clarify this very definitely. This is not an authoritarian organization.”

“Older people still see socialism and communism as dangerous, authoritarian political systems, whereas younger people are more likely to see them as economic systems, and to care far less one way or another.”

“When I was doing 'Family Ties,' I was not quite that mellow as a real father. In fact, my wife used to call me Captain Von Trapp from 'The Sound of Music.' I tended to be a little more authoritarian. I had been a very disciplined child myself, so I made the mistake of thinking one size fits all.”

“To be a parent, you must be authoritarian. If the Zambians want to succeed, they must learn to work hard, and they should not expect to be treated with kid gloves.”

“We live in very volatile times. And it is super necessary that all of us resist this move toward the militarization and establishment of a more and more authoritarian regime, not just in the United States but in Europe and elsewhere.”

“Those who abhors democracy would rarely immigrate to an authoritarian state if they have to.”

“I am a longstanding critic of British foreign policy - and an opponent of the authoritarian, quasi-imperialist, racist, homophobic politics of Putin.”

“In every country today, there is politics. It may be authoritarian politics, but there is politics.”

“Faster roads are not always safer roads - and virtually all societies, democratic or authoritarian, prefer safety over speed, even if many of their citizens enjoy fast driving.”

“You don't get the fox to be in charge of the chicken coop. You don't give the outgoing regime - which has been practicing dictatorship, is an authoritarian system, it's a bunch of military people - the task of changing Egypt into a second republic, a new Egypt with democracy, freedom, rights, etc.”

“America is always a good target for a populist. In many countries, particularly authoritarian systems, if you want to get an extra bonus, you bash the Americans.”

“As a teacher, my strategy is to encourage questioning. I'm the least authoritarian professor you'll ever meet.”

“I had some things I had to fix. It took me 14 years to do it. But it was never really fun back in the day to work with directors who were a lot older and were like authoritarian and talking to you like that.”

“As an Asst. Secretary of State, I often urged authoritarian governments around the world not to use emergency powers to defy their legislatures, courts, and laws.”

“With Taiwan, it took about 40 years to go from an authoritarian to a democratic society.”

“We are at heart so profoundly anarchistic that the only form of state we can imagine living in is Utopian; and so cynical that the only Utopia we can believe in is authoritarian.”

“The Conservative party, like many others, is constantly grappling with issues of community cohesion and how you can express your core values without becoming authoritarian and over-prescriptive.”

“The thing that I've found is there's more to it than just presenting them with good options. You need to step in and be the authoritarian with young kids up until, it depends on the family, it depends on the kid, but certainly up until the point where they're teenagers and you have a dictatorial level of control.”

“One of the strange things about violent and authoritarian regimes is they don't like the glare of negative publicity.”

“The press is the only profession protected in the Constitution because of how important the framers viewed the press. But in authoritarian regimes, they control the press.”

“China is building a model for how an authoritarian government can survive the Internet.”

“Hong Kong has always been a symbol of the vibrant and free exchange of cultures, commerce and ideas. This reputation is threatened, however, in the face of China's efforts to increase its authoritarian control within its sphere of influence.”

“I'm actually a miserable, authoritarian guy at home... no really, I'm strict.”

“This country is becoming increasingly authoritarian. It's based on capital punishment.”

“Obama is a statist. He's an authoritarian. He doesn't want to govern; he wants to rule.”

“In its current form, globalization cannot be sustained. Democratic societies will not support it. Authoritarian leaders will fear to impose it.”

“There's no authoritarian structure at Reed College, but the education is conservative. So what you have is a lot of students who are very authentically looking for truth.”

“All I want is for Remain United to lift the fog so that people who oppose Farage - and his chilling authoritarian vision for our country - can deploy their votes strategically and effectively.”

“The new era of bottom-up politics has had politically paradoxical consequences in China. While it has made the system of governance more participatory, it has made the central government less authoritarian and, therefore, more bureaucratic and cautious.”

“In the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, authoritarian movements swept the most powerful countries in the world, from Germany to Italy, Spain to Japan - and it was the United States which helped to lead the world in an effort to defeat these movements.”

“The stability and security of authoritarian regimes cannot create but terrorism and violence and destruction. Let us accept the choice of the people. Let us not pick and choose who we would like to rule their future.”

“We see the tendency in the world to criticise democracy and sometimes even to say that authoritarian countries like China are more efficient. That is very short-sighted. China looks efficient only because it can sacrifice most people's rights. This is not something the west should be happy about.”

“Donald Trump, despite his campaign promises, this is not a guy who is going to be willing to send executive power that belongs to the legislative branch back to the legislative branch. I mean, Donald Trump is going to try to amass and consolidate power, given that he's an authoritarian.”

“Free nations of the world cannot allow Taiwan, a beacon of democracy, to be subdued by an authoritarian China.”

“In authoritarian societies, cultural institutions tend to become ideological proxies - think of the National Ballet in Cuba or the East German gymnastics team.”

“I'm a good authoritarian figure; I don't know why. 'Can you be a cop?' Sure. 'Can you be a Marine?' Absolutely. Well, at least in a movie.”

“The most interesting stuff happens when an authoritarian government removes itself a little and gives this margin of freedom. And then art is grabbed with both hands.”

“That the more authoritarian organizations survive and prevail goes generally unnoticed because people focus on the objectives of organizations, which are many and varied, rather than on their structures, which lend to be similar.”

“And so I have studied, I have to tell you, revolutions and uprisings for a long time. They are all slightly different, but what they all look for is some kind of a mechanism to go from an authoritarian system to an open, democratic system.”

“The thread of culture that runs through the entire history of punk is also a dedication to challenging the authoritarian.”

“Vladimir Putin is creating an axis of authoritarian regimes that he will lead.”

“In emerging democracies like Russia, in authoritarian states like Iran or even Yugoslavia, journalists play a vital role in civil society. In fact, they form the very basis of those new democracies and civil societies.”

“Obama might think of himself as one, but he is not a dictator. We are not a banana republic yet. This is not an authoritarian form of government. This is a constitutional republic, and the president doesn't allow or disallow. The president can't buy or purchase.”

“Western companies (and governments) have deeply integrated themselves with an authoritarian regime without thinking through the consequences, and when push comes to shove, many will choose money over their nice mission statements.”

“Bobby Kennedy's conduct toward Lyndon Johnson was childish and despicable. As the years went on, he displayed nasty, self-pitying, and messianic qualities that would have made him a dangerously authoritarian president.”

“The words we spoke and our entire punk performance aimed to express our disapproval of a specific political event: the patriarchs' support of Vladimir Putin, who has taken an authoritarian and anti-feminist course.”

“Fact check: The examples of failed socialism that critics use are not socialist democracies but authoritarian states led by corrupt, ruthless, and paranoid dictators.”

“We think about democracy, and that's the word that Americans love to use, 'democracy,' and that's how we characterize our system. But if democracy just means going to vote, it's pretty meaningless. Russia has democracy in that sense. Most authoritarian regimes have democracy in that sense.”

“I am the first authoritarian government elected to become a dictator and then resigning as a dictator. So this is the first dictator in the world who has resigned while still quite healthy.”

“If there is an authoritarian structure at St. Hill it has been brought into being by the government itself. St. Hill is trying to correct itself. It doesn't know what it's trying to correct because nobody has told it what to correct.”

“No authoritarian leader cedes power easily or turns it over to bodies he cannot control.”

“No one can take away the experience of Yeltsin's freedoms, but Russian democracy will never follow Western models: other authoritarian 'controlled democracies' - Turkey, Taiwan, Mexico - ultimately developed into democracies. But it took decades.”

“In fact, despite the fact that he's somehow managed to brand himself as a moderate choice, Michael Bloomberg's record is actually that of an authoritarian nightmare.”

“Through the inspiration of Vaclav's words, the courage of his dissidence and the integrity of his leadership, Czechoslovakia successfully transitioned from an authoritarian state to a free democracy at the heart of Europe.”

“What I find very painful are all these charges that democracy is really shaken in Poland, that we have been switching into some authoritarian regime.”

“The crisis of democracy in the West is not the result of falling in love with another system. In Europe and America people who are disillusioned with democracy do not dream about the Chinese model or any other form of authoritarian rule. They do not dream about government that controls Internet and puts in prison those daring to disagree.”

“Democracy can only spring from practising it early, and democratic action was not to expected from young people brought up under a close authoritarian system.”

“The proximate cause of Iraq's unraveling was the increasing authoritarian, sectarian, and corrupt conduct of the Iraqi government and its leader after the departure of the last U.S. combat forces in 2011.”

“There is also poetry written to be shouted in a square in front of an enthusiastic crowd. This occurs especially in countries where authoritarian regimes are in power.”

“Hong Kong people stand in the front line to confront authoritarian suppression.”

“Libraries have had a long history of dealing with authoritarian organizations demanding reader records - who's read what - and this has led to people being rounded up and killed.”

“It is often in the name of cultural integrity as well as social stability and national security that democratic reforms based on human rights are resisted by authoritarian governments.”

“We boast of being one of the oldest democracies in existence and it is a point of pride for many of us that British society represents a beacon of hope for repressed peoples living in authoritarian states around the world.”

“The behavioral scientist Karen Stenner has written very eloquently about people who have what she calls an authoritarian predisposition, a personality type that is bothered by complexity and is especially enraged by disagreement. Trump has made himself into the spokesperson for precisely these American authoritarians.”

“Disappointment over nationalistic authoritarian regimes may have contributed to the fact that today religion offers a new and subjectively more convincing language for old political orientations.”

“America's gravest moral evil, chattel slavery, was defeated by an authoritarian president in a religious civil war, not by proceduralism or constitutional debate.”

“I didn't listen to anyone. I was so violent, so authoritarian, only listening to what I wanted and myself.”

“The struggle of democratic secularism, religious tolerance, individual freedom and feminism against authoritarian patriarchal religion, culture and morality is going on all over the world - including the Islamic world, where dissidents are regularly jailed, killed, exiled or merely intimidated and silenced.”