# Quote — Michael Moorcock, The Dragon in the Sword

> I could scarcely believe that these were the men who had done so much to influence the course of my own world’s history. It now seemed obvious that all of them were drugged in some way. They were acting like silly children. And yet I suppose I should have realized that it is in the nature of all such creatures to be at heart infantile. Only children believe they can achieve enormous power over the world without paying a price for that power. And the price so often is the sanity of the one who seeks it.

- Author: [Michael Moorcock](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-moorcock.md)
- Book: [The Dragon in the Sword](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-moorcock/the-dragon-in-the-sword.md)
- Page: 641
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Moorcock#The_Dragon_in_the_Sword_(1986)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-moorcock/the-dragon-in-the-sword/i-could-scarcely

## More from this book

> Your imagination is notoriously poor. Not everyone holds identical ambitions to your own!

p. 560 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-moorcock/the-dragon-in-the-sword/your-imagination-is-notoriously.md)

> Indeed, to be a hero, forever at war, is to be in some ways always a child. The true challenge comes in making sense of one’s life, of imbuing it with purpose based on one’s own principles.

p. 687 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-moorcock/the-dragon-in-the-sword/indeed-to-be-a-hero.md)

> “For years my lady made her plans. And when the time came to put them into action, how wonderfully she was able to achieve her ambitions.”
>
> “Only because few rational people can ever begin to understand such a lust for power,” said von Bek feelingly. “There is nothing more puerile than the mind of a tyrant.”

p. 629 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-moorcock/the-dragon-in-the-sword/for-years-my-lady.md)