Quote of the Day: Power

[qos]

I found this during a random LJ search:

"It is always wrong to wield power if you are not prepared to accept the consequences for your actions and do the work it takes to use your strength and authority with precision and fairness. A good leader is many people's servant. If being trained to become a perfect servant sounds too humiliating, you are not strong enough to withstand the temptations of wielding power."


The Topping Book by Dossie Easton and Janet Hardy.


I liked this because it resonated strongly with my own feelings about power and authority, a topic that's been highlighted in some private email conversations recently. My novel's protagonist Seonaid Montgomery would also like this quote a lot, as would several characters in some of my other writing.

Comments

[queenofhalves]

pat califia actually said or wrote it, but easton and hardy don't give further attribution when they quote it. i suspect it was in a talk or some such.

[qos.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the correction.

[qos.livejournal.com]

I was just looking at my copy of The New Topping Book, and they supply an attribution this time.

[southernselkie.livejournal.com]

That >is< a fantastic quote.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_storyteller_/]

I have that book up on my shelf.

[qos.livejournal.com]

*grin*

I do too.
But I haven't read it.
Yet.

[surly-wench.livejournal.com]

That is a wonderful quote.

qos:
My novel's protagonist Seonaid Montgomery would also like this quote a lot, as would several characters in some of my other writing.

That's interesting. May I ask what your novel's about? I'm a writer and I'm also working on a novel (I'm pretty sure I included that in my profile for heroine_addicts but I can't remember, and you've probably forgotten.) It's a piece of historical fiction set in Afghanistan. It's based on the work of a real-life women's rights group there- RAWA.

[qos.livejournal.com]

I wish I had gone back and done more tagging....

"Occupation" is set in a medieval fantasy environment. I deliberately was trying to work against the conventions of historical romances in which the hero invades the heroine's lands/castle and they have a tempestuous, love-hate romance. My novel has a young heroine in charge of the castle, and invading mercenaries, but it started out as being about all the different ways besides passionate romance that men and women could relate to each other. Then it became an examination of sovereignty and power. And then about coming of age. And warrior philosophy and honor. And religious faith and plurality.

The commander of the mercenary troop wants to ransom Seonaid for a profit, but she talks him into letting her remain and continue acting as chatelaine and administrator of the castle and lands. He assigns some of his elite force, the Wolves, to act as her escort, and gradually a powerful bond grows between them. There is also the issue of her father's attempt to prevent her from becoming sovereign, on the basis of their differing religious beliefs. Plus the overarching situation of the civil war.

I'd like to read your novel. It sounds fascinating.

[surly-wench.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for sharing that with me. :) It sounds wonderful. I especially like how intelligent and independent your protagonist Seonaid seems, and how you are attempting to buck certain literary trends. The themes of warrior philosophy and honor, the myriad ways women and men can relate to one another besides romantically, and religious faith and plurality also hold a special interest for me.

I would love to read it whenever you're finished. Or if you need some feedback during the revision process, I'd be more than happy.