Edward Said 1935 - 2003

"There is nothing mysterious or natural about authority. It is formed, irradiated, disseminated; it is intrumental, it is persuasive; it has status, it establishes canons of taste and value; it is virtually indistinguishable from certain ideas it dignifies as true, and from traditions, perceptions and judgments it forms, transmits, reproduces. Above all, authority can, indeed must, be analyzed."