“People are always ambivalent about those in power. They both worship the king and want to kill him.”

The Laws of Human Nature, Chapter 15, The Law of Fickleness

We like to imagine that human emotions are neatly arranged, that we or those around us experience feelings in a singular, consistent manner.

We presume that people either admire someone or resent them, either trust or distrust, love or hate.

The emotional landscape is rarely so simple.

Our feelings are often muddled, overlapping, and contradictory.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in our attitudes toward authority.