"Power conversion is the capacity to convert potential power, as measured by resources, to realized power, as measured by the changed behavior of others."

Joseph Nye Science See all quotes by Joseph Nye →

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“Cooperation is difficult in the absence of communication.”

“Power, like love, is easier to experience than to define or measure.”

“The international system consists not only of states. The international political system is the pattern of relationships among the states.”

“Some observers feel it is harder to change public opinion in democracies than it is to change policies in totalitarian countries.”

“Humans sometimes make surprising choices, and human history is full of uncertainties.”

“Any sense of global community is weak.”

Resonant Thoughts

"The old men say their fathers told them that soon after the fields were left to themselves a change began to be visible."

— Richard Jefferies

Literature1848–1887

#change

"Media, by altering the environment, evoke in us unique ratios of sense perception...When these ratios change, men change."

— Marshall McLuhan

Philosophy1911–1980

#change

"Blessed Jesus, I am but a lamb, and often fear I shall never be any thing better, but perish as I am. Lord, take me in the arms of Thy power and lay me on the bosom of Thy love; though I am so poor an…"

— John Angell James

Social Activism1785–1859

#time

"The sense of liberty and power, and of belief in the capacity and destiny of man, which was quickened by the new discoveries, distinguishes the literature of the Elizabethan age from the great backwar…"

— Walter Raleigh (professor)

Politics1552–1618

#love