The Lathe of Heaven Power Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)

Quote #4

Why had this gift been given to a fool, a passive nothing of a man? Why was Orr so sure and so right, while the strong, active, positive man was powerless, forced to try to use, even to obey, the weak tool? This went through his mind, not for the first time, but even as he thought it he was going over to the desk, to the telephone. (8.78)

We told you that everything went back to Taoism. George gets the power because he's following the tenets of Taoism. Dr. Haber isn't, so he gets nothing. Basically, if you actually desire power, you're not going to get it—or if you do, it'll turn on you pretty quickly.

Quote #5

He was an important man, an extremely important man. He was the Director of HURAD, the vital center of the World Planning Center, the place where the great decisions were made. He had always wanted power to do good. Now he had it. (9.24)

In a way, Dr. Haber's desire for power makes sense. It's pretty difficult to do things like end world hunger without a lot of power. But do you think he goes about achieving his goals in the correct way? And does he really want to solve these big problems, or is he more into the idea that he will be the one to fix everything? Is it about world peace, or is it really just about William Haber?

Quote #6

The quality of the will to power is, precisely, growth. Achievement is its cancellation. To be, the will to power must increase with each fulfillment, making the fulfillment only a step to a further one. The vaster the power gained, the vaster the appetite for more. As there was no visible limit to the power Haber wielded through Orr's dreams, so there was no end to his determination to improve the world. (9.26)

That's exactly the problem here. Dr. Haber says that George's power is a means to an end, but it doesn't actually seem that there is any end to Dr. Haber's desires. We could see his next step being to make himself the ruler of the entire solar system. Then the galaxy. Then the universe. Then… who knows?