On Using Authority
August 12, 1945
It has long been said that a little learning is a dangerous thing. And human experience would more than justify the paraphrase that a little authority may also be an exceedingly dangerous thing. Always we are faced with the paradox that where there is no authority, things don’t get done; but, with men, any authority may tend to become too much authority. Humankind acting individually and without organized purpose can scarcely hope to survive, to say nothing of prospering. And in order to have the fruits of organized effort, we must have leadership; and in order to have leadership we must delegate some authority, because leadership without authority is ineffective. But, unfortunately, the record of man’s dealings with man would seem to indicate that too often those who have been given a little authority begin to think what they could do with a little more authority. And, having been given a little more authority, they begin to brood upon what they could do with much authority. And having been given much authority, they become consumed with thinking what mighty works they might perform with absolute authority, which, if pursued to its ultimate conclusion by a determined and adroit person, is the beginning of tragedy for all those whose lives are touched thereby. To quote a profound truth: “We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority…they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion…but when we undertake to…gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of righteousness,…Amen to the …authority of that man.” Of course there must be authority, and of course there must be respect for it, which is what saves the world from anarchy. But authority which attempts to perpetuate itself for its own sake, or which seeks to impose an unjust end, or which moves toward the regimentation and enslavement of those over whom it is exercised—all such authority is but building up to its own downfall, and its inglorious termination is not a question of “if” but only a question of “when”. Authority cannot endure on unrighteous principles. Let all men who exercise authority over others by any right or necessity—let them be thus advised; and whoever they are and wherever they may be, let them use the powers and the jurisdiction they have in justice, in mercy, in righteousness, and in moderation. And may we never be so unwise as to delegate authority to anyone without keeping always within our own hands the means of recalling or revoking it, whenever it is exceeded or abused.