Rule through the fear of force rather than force itself.
Wilhuff Tarkin in Star Wars Bücher, Imperial SourcebookDaala: "The Rebel Alliance won't know what hit them."
Tarkin: "Oh, they'll know, my dear. Everyone will know. That's the point."
Someone once said that politics is little more than the systematic organization of hostilities.
PolitikWilhuff Tarkin in Star Wars Bücher, TarkinNever try to live decently, boy - not unless you're willing to open your life to tragedy and sadness. Live like a beast, and no event, no matter how harrowing, will ever be able to move you.
Wilhuff Tarkin in Star Wars Bücher, TarkinWe employ nonhumans wherever they are useful, for now. But mark my words, Raith. Humans are the future.
Wilhuff Tarkin in Star Wars Bücher, Rogue PlanetOf power, I could tell you much. But the time is not right. I shall only say that the Empire is close to having power such as never before – power of world-shattering proportions, you could say. Mark my words, never again will a citizen of this galaxy watch a moonrise in quite the same way. He will stare at that moon – if such it is – and remember that the Empire is firmly in control.
Wilhuff Tarkin in Star Wars Bücher, Empire 8: DarklighterThe average citizen deals in symbols, not rational analysis. If we present the citizen with a weapon so powerful, so immense as to defy all conceivable attack against it, a weapon invulnerable and invincible in battle, that shall become the symbol for the Empire. We may need only a handful, perhaps only one of these weapons to subjugate thousands upon thousands of worlds containing millions upon millions of beings.
Wilhuff Tarkin in Star Wars Bücher, Imperial SourcebookThreats of insurrection must be met with strong, centralized power. One must seize the moment, and strike. Forgive the ravings of a lowly lieutenant governor, Supreme Chancellor. Moreover, I realize that it is hardly the Republic's way to answer violence with violence.
Wilhuff Tarkin in Star Wars Bücher, Cloak of Deception