Skip to content
Needs reviewMost quotes start here until readers rate them or add a source — you can help.

As the body of man is knit and kept together in due proportion by the sinews, so every commonwealth is kept and maintained in good order by obedience. But as the sinews are racked and stretched too much, or shrink together too much, it breeds great pain and deformity in a man's body: so if obedience is too much or too little in a commonwealth, it causes much evil and disorder. For too much makes the governors forget their vocation, and to usurp upon their subjects: too little breeds a licentious liberty, and makes the people to forget their duty.

John Ponet — A Short Treatise of Politike Power (1556; modernized edition)

Added by Postmilstill archive ·

Citation look off? Sign in to suggest a source or rate accuracy.

Where this is from

Work title, edition, or primary text used to cite this quote.

Primary text - Chapter IV — How Far Subjects Are Bound to Obey
Open source text

Margin notes

Discussion

Share context, ask questions, or discuss this quote. Comments are separate from source proposals and verification ratings.

All discussions →

    No comments yet.

Loading…

Related quotes

Related by source, book, author, or topic.

All quotes by John Ponet →