Some fool, long ago ? probably a Roman ? said that to know how to command, a man must first learn how to obey. This is the opposite of the truth. The man who has learnt to obey will either have lost all personal initiative or will have become so filled with rage against the authorities that his initiative will have become destructive and cruel.
Source:"On being good" in: Mortals and Others; Bertrand Russell's American Essays, 1931-1935, v.1
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