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Tyrants Quotes

Quotes on tyranny, rebellion, and resisting unchecked power.

These tyrants quotes draw on a long tradition of political defiance, including the claim that tyrants everywhere fear poets most. Several lines frame rebellion against tyranny as a moral, even religious, duty.

In Russia all tyrants believe poets to be their worst enemies.

Quotes by Yevgeny Yevtushenko

Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.

Quotes by William Penn

Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants.

Quotes by William Penn

Let tyrants shake their iron rod.

Quotes by William Billings

Abject Quotes

When politicians don black robes and seize powers they do not have, they should be called out for what they are - usurpers and petty tyrants.

Quotes by Pat Buchanan

Friendship is a disinterested commerce between equals; love, an abject intercourse between tyrants and slaves.

Quotes by Oliver Goldsmith

The 'Axis of Evil' was - and is - very real, as the tyrants of Iran, Iraq, and North Korea knew full well.

Quotes by Michael Ledeen

We don't have to settle for Freedom Caucus tactics - those guys are tyrants. We don't have to accept that. In fact, we can't and have this country be what this country really can be.

Quotes by Michael Bennet

One weeps not save when one is afraid, and that is why kings are tyrants.

Quotes by Marquis de Sade

Accept Quotes

There can be no tyrants where there are no slaves.

Quotes by Jose Rizal

It is a violation which has obsessed the tyrants of the twentieth century. They do not want simply to kill their opponents, but to liquidate them, to deny that they have ever existed.

Quotes by Helen Dunmore

The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.

Quotes by Frederick Douglass

Kings will be tyrants from policy, when subjects are rebels from principle.

Quotes by Edmund Burke

Tyrants seldom want pretexts.

Quotes by Edmund Burke

Afraid Quotes

The mob is the mother of tyrants.

Quotes by Diogenes

Excessive dealings with tyrants are not good for the security of free states.

Quotes by Demosthenes

All men would be tyrants if they could.

Quotes by Daniel Defoe

Nature has left this tincture in the blood, That all men would be tyrants if they could.

Quotes by Daniel Defoe

Tyrants have not yet discovered any chains that can fetter the mind.

Quotes by Charles Caleb Colton

Against Quotes

Tyrants and dictators have incited hatred against ethnic and religious minorities for centuries in order to consolidate power for themselves.

Quotes by Bob Menendez

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the focus of these Tyrants quotes?
These quotes examine tyranny and the response to it, from historical claims about how rulers treat poets to arguments framing rebellion as a moral obligation. The tone throughout is one of defiance rather than despair.
Why might someone search for quotes about tyrants?
Readers often turn to quotes on tyranny when thinking about resistance, freedom, or historical oppression, and this collection offers several sharp, quotable lines on that exact theme.
What claim does one quote make about tyrants and poets?
One quote states that in Russia, all tyrants view poets as their worst enemies, suggesting that creative and free expression is historically seen as a threat to authoritarian rule.
Is there a religious framing of resistance to tyranny in this collection?
Yes, one quote argues that people are governed either by God or ruled by tyrants, while another calls rebellion against tyrants a form of obedience to God.
Does the collection include a call to defiance?
One short quote simply urges tyrants to shake their iron rod, a defiant image met with resolve rather than Afraid submission.

One quote insists people are governed either by God or by tyrants, leaving little middle ground. For related themes of resistance, see Against quotes.