How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Narrator.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"In a room sit three great men, a king, a priest, and a rich man with his gold. Between them stands a sellsword, a little man of common birth and no great mind. Each of the great ones bids him slay the other two. 'Do it,' says the king, 'for I am your lawful ruler.' 'Do it,' says the priest, 'for I command you in the names of the gods.' 'Do it,' says the rich man, 'and all this gold shall be yours.' So tell me—who lives and who dies?" (4.Tyrion.147)
This riddle is the key to understanding how power works in A Clash of Kings. There are various political and social institutions vying for power, and they need to convince people of their power to gain power over other guys. Of course, it's more complicated than that, but we wouldn't want everything given away in the first four chapters, would we?
Quote #2
Tyrion cocked his head sideways. "Did you mean to answer your damned riddle, or only to make my head ache worse?"
Varys smiled. "Here, then. Power resides where men believe it resides. No more and no less."
"So power is a mummer's trick?" (9.Tyrion.101-103)
Quote #3
A man like Petyr Baelish, who had a gift for rubbing two golden dragons together to breed a third, was invaluable to his Hand. Littlefinger's rise had been arrow-swift. (18.Tyrion.106)
One might be tempted to say that Littlefinger's power comes from money, but it's more than that. Instead, Littlefinger's power comes from his ability to manipulate the financial system to create more money. Since few people in the Seven Kingdoms seem to have this power, Littlefinger's gift becomes rarer and more powerful.