The climax of terror is reached when the police state begins to devour its own children, when yesterday's executioner becomes today's victim.
Hannah ArendtTo be free in an age like ours, one must be in a position of authority. That in itself would be enough to make me ambitious.
Hannah ArendtThe most striking difference between ancient and modern sophists is that the ancients were satisfied with a passing victory of argument at the expense of truth, whereas the moderns want a more lasting victory at the expense of reality.
Hannah ArendtThe presence of others who see what we see and hear what we hear assures us of the reality of the world and ourselves.
Hannah Arendtthe greater the bureaucratization of public life, the greater will be the attraction of violence. In a fully developed bureaucracy there is nobody left with whom one can argue, to whom one can represent grievances, on whom the pressures of power can be exerted. Bureaucracy is the form of government in which everybody is deprived of political freedom, of the power to act; for the rule by Nobody is not no-rule, and where all are equally powerless we have a tyranny without a tyrant.
Hannah Arendt