The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power … Power is not a means; it is an end.
1984, by George Orwell
The above quotation comes from George Orwell’s novel about the dystopian world in 1984. At one point in the story, O’Brien, an agent of the Thought Police who works for the Ministry of Truth, instructs the protagonist, the imprisoned Winston Smith, who has become an enemy of the totalitarian state. O’Brien is seeking to rehabilitate Smith through terrifying methods of re-education about the Party’s use of power.