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Full Idea
Is it not the supreme exercise of power to get another or others to have the desires you want them to have - that is, to secure their compliance by controlling their thoughts and desires?
Gist of Idea
Supreme power is getting people to have thoughts and desires chosen by you
Source
Steven Lukes (Power: a Radical View (2nd ed) [2005], p.27), quoted by Andrew Shorten - Contemporary Political Theory 06
Book Ref
Shorten,Andrew: 'Contemporary Political Theory' [Palgrave 2016], p.152
A Reaction
This seems to be beyond dispute. When the operation is successful, those under your power not only do not need to be intimidated, but they don't even need to be guided. But if two people are in perfect harmony, which one has the power?