Top 342 Authoritarian Quotes & Sayings

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

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

And to me, that is the greatest danger, that people start questioning basic facts and start not understanding the importance of democratic institutions such as the free press. I mean, to call the press the enemy is dangerous and just remarkably bizarre. 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. And to me, going down an authoritarian path is the greatest danger that we face as a republic.

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

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

When an authoritarian regime starts taking down feeds and blocking websites just because we expose the truth... that's an attack on freedom of the press everywhere. When authoritarian regimes around the world start attacking journalists like that, we all have a problem.

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

It's a very erroneous strategy to try to push the Russian opposition to unite. First of all, the opposition is addressing different parts of Russian society that have differing points of view. And besides, a united opposition is a nice big target that the authorities have a much easier time fighting. And besides, resisting an authoritarian regime with an authoritarian opposition merely means that, in the event of victory, you're just doing yet another round of the same old, same old.

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

Sexually awakened women, affirmed and recognized as such, would mean the complete collapse of the authoritarian ideology

We have created stability, which is a necessary condition for development. But I can't call this system authoritarian.

Many of us were a little to early to assume that the most logical uses of the internet in authoritarian states would be to empower people. And to force them towards participation in politics. If you look at most authoritarian states, they are very grim places to live in. The only good thing about it is fast internet. That's the only way you can find some meaning in an otherwise very dark and gloomy life.

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

There's an element of clowning and entertainment to Trump, that makes it surreal and hard to understand to what extent he is pretending to be a fascist or an authoritarian.

Democracy is essentially anti-authoritarian--that is, it not only demands the right but imposes the responsibility of thinking for ourselves.

Why do economists fall in love with authoritarian governments?

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

The individual act of obedience is the cornerstone not only of the strength of authoritarian society but also of its weakness.

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.

If we look at the last decades, we see that the US rightist-fundamentalist alliance demonized partnership-oriented families and painted women's rights as a threat to "tradition" - which of course it is to traditions of domination. These people had an integrated political agenda that recognizes that a "traditional" authoritarian, male dominated, punitive family is foundational to an authoritarian, male dominated, punitive politics. We can see this connection in sharp relief in brutal top-down regimes, be they secular like Nazi Germany or religious like ISIS in the Middle East.

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

The principle of the Communist Party of Vietnam is collective leadership with accountability and responsibility of the individual, which can never become authoritarian.

It's very important to understand that 21st century authoritarian rule does not look like 20th century authoritarian rule. You're not going to have people in parade ground formations. You're not going to have a police state. You're not going to people with decorative armbands bullying people on the sidewalks. And the leaders won't stand at microphones for hours ranting at people. All of that is so 80 years ago.

The politics of the family are the politics of a nation. Just as the authoritarian family is the authoritarian state in microcosm, the democratic family is the best training ground for life in a democracy.

The parent-child relationship in the home usually reflects the objective cultural conditions of the surrounding social structure. If the conditions which penetrate the home are authoritarian, rigid, and dominating, the home will increase the climate of oppression. As these authoritarian relations between parents and children intensify, children in their infancy increasingly internalize the paternal authority.

Are our competitors - for example, China, which is a deeply authoritarian nation - becoming more authoritarian or more liberal over time?

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

Intolerance of ambiguity is the mark of an authoritarian personality.

We are not and will never be an authoritarian regime.

Terrorism is about magnifying one mediagenic act of violence into one hundred billion acts of terrorized authoritarian idiocy.

Donald Trump really has authoritarian, dictatorial instincts.

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

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

My anti-authoritarian instincts let me directly to criminal defense work.

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

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.

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

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

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

The hope in the hearts of millions of national socialists can be fulfilled only by an authoritarian government.

The greatest threat to women (and by extension humanity) is the growth and acceptance of a misogynistic, authoritarian, and violent culture of militarism.

Private property creates for the individual a sphere in which he is free of the state. It sets limits to the operation of the authoritarian will.

As every authoritarian regime knows, association can be a dangerous thing. From discussion it is only a few steps to action.

It is no secret that many Islamic movements in the Middle East tend to be authoritarian, and some of the so-called 'Islamic regimes' such as Saudi Arabia, Iran - and the worst case was the Taliban in Afghanistan - they are pretty authoritarian. No doubt about that.

In brief, the goal of sexual suppression is that of producing an individual who is adjusted to the authoritarian order and who will submit to it in spite of all misery and degradation. . . The formation of the authoritarian structure takes place through the anchoring of sexual inhibition and sexual anxiety.

My authoritarian and quick manner of making decisions led me to have serious problems and to be accused of being ultraconservative. I have never been a right-winger. It was my authoritarian way of making decisions that created problems.

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

My message is simple - freedom works a lot better than the authoritarian style of government.

There is an authoritarian strain in all of Leftism-- because the bigger the government, the more it controls other peoples' lives

We do not believe in authoritarian rule.

Comic book readers tend to be pretty secular and anti-authoritarian; nothing is above satire in their eyes.

Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.

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

An authoritarian style of rule is characteristic of me, and I have always admitted it.

I'm more authoritarian with the orchestras than I used to be. You need to hold your ground, I've noticed, or you'll be swept aside.

Comics can be pernicious, fascist propaganda or anti-authoritarian. The ones that shaped me were particularly anti-authoritarian.

I've had people say, "You know, this 'Hope and Change' business, Rush, it's just as dangerous as, 'Make America Great Again,' all the specifics." And what you're really saying - even though you didn't voice this - is Barack Obama ended up being an authoritarian. He ended up being supported as an authoritarian because his wacko base wanted that stuff done - i.e., they wanted conservatives humiliated and defeated and ticked off and mad and losing everything, and they didn't care how Obama did.

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

Trump has a lot of authoritarian tendencies that need to be a serious concern.

The Egyptian experience suggests that social media can greatly accelerate the death of already dying authoritarian regimes.