Here are some famous quotes about dictators and dictatorships:
1. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” – Lord Acton
2. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke
3. “It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!” – Emiliano Zapata
4. “Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry.” – Winston Churchill
5. “Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.” – Plato
6. “A dictator does not need to follow the will of the majority. He only needs to control the majority.” – Unknown
7. “The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.” – Niccolò Machiavelli
8. “In every age it has been the tyrant, the oppressor and the exploiter who has wrapped himself in the cloak of patriotism, or religion, or both to deceive and overawe the People.” – Eugene V. Debs
9. “He who puts out his hand to stop the wheel of history will have his fingers crushed.” – Lech Wałęsa, speaking metaphorically about resistance to dictators.
10. “Dictatorships foster oppression, dictatorships foster servitude, dictatorships foster cruelty; more abominable is the fact that they foster idiocy.” – Jorge Luis Borges
11. “The dictator, in all his pride, is held in the grip of his party machine.” – George Orwell, from 1984, though this reflects Orwell’s insights on totalitarianism.
12. “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.” – Ronald Reagan
Remember, these quotes encapsulate different perspectives, from historical figures to political philosophers, each providing insight into the nature of dictatorships from various angles.