With great power

Level 2, Challenge 8 alludes to the quote: “With great power comes great responsibility” This is not Luke Skywalker but from Spiderman 1

This is not Luke Skywalker but from Spiderman 1

Who was quoting from many others going back to the 18th C :slight_smile:

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Who were quoting from various translations of the New Testament:

Luke 12:48 For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required

Lucas 12:48 porque a todo aquel a quien se le haya dado mucho, mucho se demandará de él

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Stretching it a bit in my opinion, either in English or Spanish. I don’t see “great power” as being synonymous with “much” so9 I’ll stick with my version, if that’s OK.

Thanks for your contribution, though. :smile:

It wasn’t idle speculation. The passage was well known in 18C and it is well accepted that the principle was applied in a simplified form in the quote.

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I didn’t say you were speculating idly. I simply stated my opinion that the link between the verses in Luke and the “with great power” quote is too tenuous.

as you wish

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With no ill feeling, I hope. Thank you again for your contribution to this light-hearted thread. :smile: Huw

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Huw, I found this via the Quote Investigator (https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/07/23/great-power/):

The following passage appeared with a date of May 8, 1793 in a collection of the decrees made by the French National Convention.

Les Représentans du peuple se rendront à leur destination, investis de la plus haute confiance et de pouvoirs illimités. Ils vont déployer un grand caractère. Ils doivent envisager qu’une grande responsabilité est la suite inséparable d’un grand pouvoir. Ce sera à leur énergie, à leur courage, et sur-tout à leur prudence, qu’ils devront leur succès et leur gloire.

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Dank u beaucoup, Louis

This appears to me to be a very good candidate for the origin of the quote.
To comply with the forum language guidance, Google has this for your quotation:-
“The representatives of the people will go to their destination, invested with the highest confidence and unlimited powers. They will deploy a great character. They must consider that great responsibility is the inseparable continuation of great power. It will be their energy, their courage, and above all their prudence, that they owe their success and their glory.”

I would probably have translated “suite” by “consequence” rather than “continuation” in this case.

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Pas de quoi, Huw

I was reading Barbara Tuchman’s “The March Of Folly” last night, and serendipitously came across this passage (p.38):
" We all know, from Lord Acton’s dictum, that power corrupts. We are less aware that it breeds folly; that the power to command frequently causes failure to think; that the responsibility of power often fades as its exercise augments."
Plus ça change… :unamused:

Plus ça change.

How very true.

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