Decades in power taught Moses he could outlast any challenger.

Evidence

The significance lay not in the phrase but in the fact that the man using it was still around—in power—forty years later. He was still around because he had managed to hold on to power for decades. These men with their first taste of power laughed at him; he had not only tasted power but held it longer than many of these men had been alive. Did Lindsay think he had the ability to outsmart Robert Moses? Robert Moses had outsmarted La Guardia. From the very same post from which Lindsay was trying to remove him, a President of the United States, at the peak of his popularity and power, dedicated to his destruction, had tried to remove him—and that President had failed. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 4549

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Public-authority wealth let Moses operate as a uniquely powerful political boss. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 91; A failed wartime shipbuilding assignment taught Moses to always stay near top power. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 378; The Taylor Estate fight taught Moses lifelong lessons in wielding power — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 954