quotations about politics
That mysterious independent variable of political calculation, Public Opinion.
THOMAS HUXLEY
"Universities, Actual & Ideal"
The moderate people of every party must combine to support the Government which, on the whole, suits every party best.
WALTER BAGEHOT
The English Constitution
When you take a stand out of deep conviction, people know. They may not even agree, but they ask, "Do I want someone who is willing to take a hard stand and someone I can trust to do that when the chips are down?" They want that.
BARBARA BOXER
Some folks do not understand that the root of politics is compromise and that happens best in an atmosphere of mutual respect. They believe politics is a dirty business. They throw mud, do not act ethically, out and out lie, bully and threaten others with whom they do not agree. I would argue that this is not politics but ignorance.
BILL GINDLESPERGER
"Politics is about how many friends, not enemies, you can make", Public Opinion, May 6, 2016
In 2018, the White House is occupied by a man with no evident principles beyond promoting his own brand and chalking up "wins," however he might define them. He's so uninterested in the particulars of governing that he recently told lawmakers that he would sign whatever immigration bill they sent him. How do you negotiate with a chief executive who doesn't know what a good deal is?
THE EDITORIAL BOARD
"The Jell-O President and the Shutdown", New York Times, January 22, 2018
I think it's a terrible system, but money in politics is like water running downhill -- it finds its way.
JONATHAN ALTER
book signing at Politics & Prose Bookstore, July 2, 2013
Not to have a correct political point of view is like having no soul.
MAO ZEDONG
Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong
Politics: a Trojan horse race.
STANISLAW JERZY LEC
Unkempt Thoughts
They said that I should lose my ideals and begin to believe in the methods of practical politicians. Now, I have not lost my ideals in the least; my faith in fundamentals is exactly what it always was. What I have lost is my childlike faith in practical politics.
G. K. CHESTERTON
Orthodoxy
Politics is just show business for ugly people.
JAY LENO
attributed, Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations
All that I grasped was that to repeat what everybody else was thinking was, in politics, the mark not of an inferior but of a superior mind.
MARCEL PROUST
Within a Budding Grove
An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought.
SIMON CAMERON
attributed, Chronicles of America Series
There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money ... and I can't remember what the other one is.
F. PAUL WILSON
Implant
In the founding era of our country, it was not organized religion but personal faith that brought focus and unified the early leadership--maybe an unspoken faith in God, and certain values that came with that faith. So in that sense, we cannot discount, in my judgment, religious faith in politics.
BILLY GRAHAM
Newsweek, August 14, 2006
Practical politics consists in ignoring facts.
HENRY ADAMS
The Education of Henry Adams
A politician don't steal elections, he pays for 'em.
KEN ALSTAD
Savvy Sayin's
There was an apathy beneath the empty passion-play of politics. The center had frayed like a rag rug that had been washed and walked on and shaken and hung and dried.
STEPHEN KING
The Gunslinger
Religious ideas, supposedly private matters between man and god, are in practice always political ideas.
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS
The Monarchy: A Critique of Britain's Favourite Fetish
Madame Politics is like Venus: they whom she decoys into her castle perish.
HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
The Story of My Life
Politics is a far more intellectual business than is often realized. You may think: Well, if it's simplicity that's required, you don't need a whole lot of detail. Wrong. The simplicity is not born of superficial analysis. It is simple precisely because it is the product of being worked through.
TONY BLAIR
A Journey: My Political Life