Force

By the force of truth I have conquered the universe. ~ Anonymous

In the physical sciences, a force is any influence which causes objects or energy flows to undergo a change in speed, direction, shape or power levels; in the fields of social laws, the word force commonly has two main meanings: unlawful violence and lawful compulsion.

Quotes

Only he who has measured the dominion of force, and knows how not to respect it, is capable of love and justice. ~ Simone Weil

• Vi Veri Vniversum Vivus Vici
  • By the force of truth I have conquered the universe.
    • Anonymous Latin motto, which seems to have been first published by Theodor Reuss, in the undated work, Das Erotische in Goethes Faust und die Tantriks

• Violence … is the last refuge of the incompetent.
  • Isaac Asimov, in Foundation (1951)

• Violence is the repartee of the illiterate.
  • Alan Brien, in Punch

• Force is no remedy.
  • John Bright, On the Irish Troubles (1880)

• The wish to hurt, the momentary intoxication with pain, is the loophole through which the pervert climbs into the minds of ordinary men.
  • Jacob Bronowski, in The Face of Violence

• The use of force alone is but temporary. It may subdue for a moment; but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again; and a nation is not governed, which is perpetually to be conquered.
  • Edmund Burke Conciliation with America speech

• Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious.
  • Albert Einstein, in response to atheist Alfred Kerr in the winter of 1927, who after deriding ideas of God and religion at a dinner party in the home of the publisher Samuel Fischer, had queried him "I hear that you are supposed to be deeply religious" as quoted in The Diary of a Cosmopolitan (1971) by H. G. Kessler, p.157

• Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. You cannot subjugate a nation forcibly unless you wipe out every man, woman, and child. Unless you wish to use such drastic measures, you must find a way of settling your disputes without resort to arms.
  • Albert Einstein, in a speech to the New History Society (14 December 1930), reprinted in "Militant Pacifism" in Cosmic Religion (1931). Also found in The New Quotable Einstein by Alice Calaprice, p. 158

• An autocratic system of coercion, in my opinion, soon degenerates. For force always attracts men of low morality, and I believe it to be an invariable rule that tyrants of genius are succeeded by scoundrels.
  • Albert Einstein, in Mein Weltbild (1931)

• I am strongly drawn to the simple life and am often oppressed by the feeling that I am engrossing an unnecessary amount of the labour of my fellow-men. I regard class differences as contrary to justice and, in the last resort, based on force. I also consider that plain living is good for everybody, physically and mentally.
  • Albert Einstein, in Mein Weltbild (1931)

• Churches and universities — insofar as they live up to their true function — serve the ennoblement of the individual. They seek to fulfill this great task by spreading moral and cultural understanding, renouncing the use of brute force.
  • Albert Einstein, "Moral Decay" (1937); later published in Out of My Later Years (1950)

• La raison du plus fort est toujours la meilleure.
  • The reason of the strongest is always the best.
  • Jean de La Fontaine, in Le loup et l'agneau

• Personally I do not resort to force — not even the force of law — to advance moral reforms. I prefer education, argument, persuasion, and above all the influence of example — of fashion. Until these resources are exhausted I would not think of force.
  • Rutherford B. Hayes, on attempts at an alcohol prohibition amendment, in his Diary (9 October 1883) Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1922 - 1926), edited by Charles Richard Williams

• Vis consili expers mole ruit sua.
  • Brute force without judgement collapses under its own weight
  • Horace, in Odes

• A man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he cannot sit upon it.
  • William Ralph Inge, in Philosophy of Plotinus

• A riot is at the bottom the language of the unheard.
  • Martin Luther King, in Chaos or Community

• Let there be no violence in religion.
  • Quran, Sura 2

• Whenever you employ a force of any sort, to carry a point of real importance, reject all nice calculations of economy. Better to be a thousand per cent over the mark, than the smallest fraction of a unit under it.
  • Sheridan Le Fanu in "The Room in the Dragon Volant" in In a Glass Darkly (1872)

• There is little to choose morally between beating up a man physically and beating him up mentally.
  • Compton MacKenzie in On Moral Courage (1962)

• Who overcomes by force, hath overcome but half his foe.
  • John Milton in Paradise Lost

• I have always been fond of the West African proverb "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."
  • Theodore Roosevelt, in a letter to Henry L. Sprague (26 January 1900)

• Where force is necessary, one should make use of it boldly, resolutely, and right to the end. But it is as well to know the limitations of force; to know where to combine force with manoeuvre, assualt with conciliation.
  • Leon Trotsky in What Next?

• Vencer no es convencer.
  • To conquer is not to convince.
    • Miguel de Unamuno
  • Variant: Hatred without compassion cannot win minds, to conquer is not to convince.
    • As quoted in Spanish Recognitions : The Roads to the Present (2004) by Mary Lee Settle, p. 134

• He who does not realize to what extent shifting fortune and necessity hold in subjection every human spirit, cannot regard as fellow-creatures nor love as he loves himself those whom chance separated from him by an abyss. The variety of constraints pressing upon man give rise to the illusion of several distinct species that cannot communicate. Only he who has measured the dominion of force, and knows how not to respect it, is capable of love and justice.
  • Simone Weil, "The Iliad or The Poem of Force" (1940-1941) in Simone Weil : An Anthology (1986) edited by Siân Miles, p.192

• Occult historians generally agree that V.V.V.V.V. signified Vi Veri Vniversum Vivus Vici ("By the force of truth I have conquered the universe"), one of the eleven magic mottoes of Aleister Crowley.
  • Robert Anton Wilson, Everything Is Under Control : Conspiracies, Cults, and Cover-Ups (1998), A∴A∴, p. 22.

The Force of Star Wars

Quotes referring to "The Force" a metaphysical and mystically ubiquitous power in the fictional universe of the Star Wars galaxy created by George Lucas.

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

• You must learn the ways of the Force if you're to come with me to Alderaan.
  • Obi-Wan Kenobi (known only as "Ben" Kenobi, at this point)

• Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.
  • Darth Vader

• There's nothing for me here now. I want to learn the ways of the Force and be a Jedi, like my father.
  • Luke Skywalker

• Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful Force controlling everything. There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny. Anyway, it's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.
  • Han Solo

• Don't underestimate the Force.
  • Darth Vader

• Obi-Wan is here. The Force is with him.
  • Darth Vader

• May the Force be with you.
  • Han Solo

• Remember…the Force will be with you, always.
  • Obiwan Kenobi