“For a long time, he stood in front of the enormous head of Rameses II. It brought pedestals again to his mind. This carved head would have stood towering above the people, a testament of the Pharaoh’s greatness, a symbol of his power. Edwin knew that to modern thought, the idea of divine right of kings was passé, snickered at behind closed university doors. The Pharaohs were considered arrogant tyrants. But looking up at the stone face in front of him, he wondered what kind of man he had really been. What does it take to rule a nation?
From experience, he knew that sometimes people of prominence don’t always climb onto the pedestals of their own accord. Sometimes they are placed there at the insistence of those around them. People looking for something, or someone, to worship.
But pedestals are also easy targets.”
-from Pedestal