Apolitician is a person active inpartypolitics, or a person holding or seeking office in government.

CONTENT :A - F ,G - L ,M - R ,S - Z ,Respectfully Quoted ,See also ,External links

Quotes are arranged alphabetically by author

• Some of the politicians in thiscountry, in their feverish search for group acceptance, are ready to endorse tumultuousconfrontation as a substitute fordebate, and the mostillogical and unfitting extensions of theBill of Rights as protections forpsychotic andcriminal elements in oursociety…. We have seen all too clearly that there are men—now in power in this country—who do not represent authority, who cannot cope with tradition, and who believe that the people ofAmerica are ready to supportrevolution as long as it is done with aculturedvoice and ahandsomeprofile.
  • Spiro T. Agnew, address to the American Retail Federation, Washington, D.C. (May 4, 1970); reported in John R. Coyne, Jr.,The Impudent Snobs (1972), p. 324.

• It was weird seeing Ricky act so weaselly and calculating, like he’d become a politician all of a sudden.
  • Charlie Jane Anders,Break! Break! Break! (2014), reprinted inRich Horton (ed.),The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2015 (p. 226)

• Ὑπὸ λίθῳ γὰρ παντί που χρὴ
  μὴ δάκῃ ῥήτωρ ἀθρεῖν.
  • You’ve got to look under every rock, or a politician may bite you.
  • Aristophanes,Thesmophoriazusae, 528, adapting a line ofPraxilla, as translated by Jeffrey Henderson (LCL 179)

• [Recipe for political success:] If a politician during a campaign finds it necessary to resort toflattery, he should spread it on, not in thin layers, but with a trowel, or better yet, a shovel. Politicians should not forget that voters never grow weary of illusory promises. Politicians should ever remember that the electorate suspects and distrusts men of superb intellect,calmness, andserenity. And, finally, the politician must always tell people what they want to hear.
  • Attributed to SenatorHenry Fountain Ashurst; in John Rustgard,The Problem of Poverty, 2d ed. (1936), p. 211–12.

• I would he were better, I would he were worse.
  • Attributed to U.S. SenatorJoseph Weldon Bailey. Reported as unverified inRespectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989). Said to have been applied to President Theodore Roosevelt during debate on the Railroad Rate Bill of 1906.

• The politician has not to revenge what has happened but to ensure that it does not happen again.
  • Otto von Bismarck, in 1867, following public criticism of courtesy shown to the defeatedNapoleon III after thebattle of Sedan, as quoted in A. J. P. Taylor,Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman (1955), p. 115. Also quoted inOxford Dictionary of Political Quotations (1997), p. 46.

• If this law passes I’m going to make you guys forget aboutMike Duffy, because I’ve got more information and more proof on politicians in this country than you can shake a stick at, I promise.
  • Terri-Jean Bedford[1]

• Politicians hide themselves away
  They only started the war
  Why should they go out to fight?
  They leave that role to the poor.
  • Black SabbathWar PigsParanoid written byOzzy Osbourne,Tony Iommi,Geezer Butler andBill Ward

• Politicians have prolonged deaths. In a way, they begin to die the moment they leave office, and their deaths continue thereafter as each of their identifying characteristics – this bold new drive, that exciting new initiative – goes up in smoke, borne away on the winds of change.
  • Craig Brown, "Of Eccles and Emu", inThis is Craig Brown (2004)

• Politicians listen whenlarge corporations speak.
  • Marshall B. Clinard,Corporate Corruption: The Abuse of Power.Greenwood Publishing Group. 1990. p. 6.ISBN 978-0-275-93485-9. 

• While we bicker day-to-day about this politician or that one, the true power players like themilitary industrial complex are doing things like creatingA.I. that will control our future world. By keeping us preoccupied with nonsense, they can build ourprison in peace & quiet.
  • Lee Camp,Twitter, (12 July 2020)

• We desperately need asociopath test for allpoliticians. We have thetechnology to find out if people lackempathy. If they do, they should be banned from running for office, serving on corporate boards, or having any kind ofauthority.
  • Lee Camp,Twitter, (12 July 2020)

• Wars are fought byteenagers, you realize that. They really ought to be fought by thepoliticians and old people who start these wars.
  • James Clavell interview withDon Swaim of CBS Radio (1986)(RealAudio file)

• “It soon began to dawn on me
  He wasn’t very bright,
  Because when he was twenty-three
  He couldn’t read or write.
  
  ‘Whatshall we do?’ his parents sob.
  ‘The boy has got the vapors!
  He couldn’t even get a job
  Delivering the papers!’
  
  ‘Ah-ha,’ I said, ‘this little clot
  Could be a politician.’
  ‘Nanny,’ he cried, ‘Oh Nanny, what
  A super proposition!’
  
  ‘Okay,’ I said, ‘let’s learn and note
  The art of politics.
  Let’s teach you how to miss the boat
  And how to drop some bricks,
  And how to win the people’s vote
  And lots of other tricks.
  
  Let’s learn to make a speech a day
  Upon theT.V. screen,
  In which you never never say
  Exactly what you mean.
  And most important, by the way,
  Is not to let your teeth decay,
  And keep your fingers clean.’
  
  And now that I am eighty-nine,
  It’s too late to repent.
  The fault was mine the little swine
  Became thePresident.”
  • Roald Dahl,Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972),ISBN 978-0-14-241032-5, Chapter 9 (pp. 63-65)

• The politician follows the line of least resistance; it is easy to fall asleep over the unhappiness of others and to count it for very little; it is easier to throw a hundred men, ninety-seven of whom are innocent, into prison, than to discover the three culprits who are hidden among them; it is easier to kill a man than to keep a close watch on him; all politics makes use of the police, which officially flaunts its radical contempt for the individual and which loves violence for its own sake. The thing that goes by the name of political necessity is in part the laziness andbrutality of thepolice. That is why it is incumbent uponethics not to follow the line of least resistance; an act which is not destined, but rather quite freely consented to; it must make itself effective so that what was at first facility may become difficult.
  • Simone de Beauvoir,The Ethics of Ambiguity. Philosophical Library. 1948.ISBN 978-0-8065-0160-4. Part III: The Positive Aspect of Ambiguity

• Actors didn’t have to be politicians, but politicians had to be actors.
  • Philip José Farmer,The Fabulous Riverboat (1971), Chapter 20

• Our society is run by a managerialbureaucracy, by professional politicians; people are motivated by mass suggestion, their aim is producing more and consuming more, as purposes in themselves.
  • Erich Fromm,The Art of Loving (1956}.

• That’s the basis of all politics: it has to be you or me, there’s not enough for both of us.Survival of the fittest... But we can do so much now, with so little, that we can take care of everybody. That’s why the idea ofscarcity is all wrong. Up to now, the world of politics doesn’t know that. That’s why all nations are dependent onarmaments, why we have thearms race. The politicians still say that it’s you or me, and that’s why they go for the gun... The young world is giving up any interest in their political system. They have decided that it is absolutely corrupt.
  • Buckminster Fuller inBuckminster Fuller Talks Politics, (1982)

• One can judge between candidates by remembering Georges Pompidou’s remark that astatesman is a politician who puts himself athis country’s service, whereas a politician is a statesman who puts the country at his own service—or that of agroup orclass, usually his own.
  • A. C. Grayling,Life, Sex, and Ideas: The Good Life Without God (2002),ISBN 0-19-517755-X, Chapter 21, "Politics"

• WhenBobby Kennedy went afterorganized crime in the early1960s, one of the things he learned was that theMafia had a series of rituals new members went through to declare theirloyalty and promise they’d never turn away from their new benefactors. Once in, they’d be showered with money and protection, but they could never leave and even faced serious problems if they betrayed the syndicate. Which brings us to the story ofKyrsten Sinema. For arepublican democracy to actually work, averagecitizens with a passion for making their country better must be able to run for public office without needing wealthy or powerful patrons; this is a concept that dates back toAristotle’s rants on the topic. And Sinema... Apparently... she decided that if you can only barely beat them, you’d damn well better join them. Sinema quickly joined other Democrats who’d followed theCitizens United path to the flashing neon lights of big money, joining the so-called “Problem Solvers” caucus that owes its existence in part to the Wall Street-funded front group “No Labels.” ... Political networks run by rightwing billionaires and the US Chamber of Commerce showered her with support... She’d proved herself as a “made woman,” just like the old mafiosi documented by RFK in the 1960s, willing to do whatever it takes, compromise whatever principles she espoused...
  • Thom Hartmann inKrysten Sinema is the Epitome of Political Corruption, Thom Hartmann,CounterPunch, October 14, 2021

• And this isa genuine crisis for America because ifPresident Biden is frustrated in his attempt to pass hisBuild Back Better legislation (that is overwhelmingly supported by Americans across the political spectrum) — all becausebusiness groups, giantcorporations andrightwingbillionaires are asserting ownership over their two “made” senators — there’s a very good chance that today’scynicism andpolitical violence is just a preview ofthe rest of the decade. But this isn’t as much a story about Sinema as it is about today’s larger political dysfunction for which she’s become, along withJoe Manchin, a poster child. Increasingly,because of theSupreme Court’s betrayal of American values, it’s become impossible for people like the younger Sinema to rise fromsocial worker to theUnited States Senate without big money behind them.... While the naked corruption of Sinema and Joe Manchin is a source of outrage for Democrats across America, what’s far more important is that it reveals how deep the rot of money in American politics has gone, thanks entirely to a corrupted Supreme Court. In Justice Stevens’ dissent in Citizens United, he pointed out that corporations in their modern form didn’t even exist when the Constitution was written...
  • Thom Hartmann inKrysten Sinema is the Epitome of Political Corruption, Thom Hartmann,CounterPunch, October 14, 2021

• Losing power, utterly and completely, is the most dreadful prospect that a politician can think of. It overshadows everything else.
  • Fred Hoyle,The Black Cloud (1957), chapter 11

• Winston Churchill famously claimed that of all human qualities,courage was the most esteemed, because it guaranteed all others. He was right. Courage—moral courage—is the companion of greatleadership. No politician could ever be viewed as exceptional unless he or she had it in spades. And historically there would have been no social progress if not for the presence of specific humansdissenting and breaking fromherd-inspiredsuspicion andfear... At best, courage is self-sacrificing, non-violent,modest and based on universal principles — and immensely powerful.... Look at today’spoliticians... keen to be viewed as the virileleaders of their respective countries; eager to inflate their image by harmingmigrants andrefugees, the mostvulnerable in society. If there is courage in that, I fail to see it.Authoritarian leaders, or elected leaders inclined toward it, are bullies, deceivers, selfish cowards. If they are growing in number it is because (with exceptions) many other politicians are mediocre... focused on their own image... too afraid to stand up...
  • Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein inGrassroots leaders provide the best hope to a troubled world, The Economist, (30 August 2018)

• If we do not change course quickly, we will inevitably encounter an incident where that first domino is tipped—triggering a sequence of unstoppable events that will markthe end of our time onthis tiny planet... What if 100m or more people marched around the world in protest at what it is we now see: the ineptitude, selfishness, the cruelties and the threats to our collective well-being? ...it might just deliver a sort of shock therapy to those dangerous or useless politicians who now threaten humanity.
  • Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein inGrassroots leaders provide the best hope to a troubled world, The Economist, (30 August 2018)

• We learned thatTim Geithner,Barack Obama's topeconomics guy, vetoed any suggestion that theIrish Government might demand thatbankbondholders pay some of their owngamblingdebts. Some weeks later, face to face with Obama,Enda Kenny chickened out of raising that matter. Face to face with Geithner,Michael Noonan also chickened out.We learned, in short, that Irish politicians are tough when they're taking money away from blind people.
  • Gene Kerrigan, "Austerity doesn't work? No problem."Sunday Independent, December 18 2011.

• Even back in the days whenenergy had been abundant, leaders orrepresentatives might not have really been necessary. If everyone had properly understood how the world turned, what was beneficial for only a few, and what would be harmful to the whole, then they might not have needed to choose representatives. It was not that difficult to live without them. However, people had chosen this lazy approach for the sake of a petty peace and to make their lives easier, and as a result they had left the decision-making to others. It was only now—now that the universe was dying—that they belatedly realized the truth: that leaders and representatives were poisonous mushrooms that grew thick in the cracks and crevices widened by indolence, and they were a waste of energy.
  • Chang-Gyu Kim,Sentinel, (Korean 2010; English translation 2019)

• The trouble is that modern countries are usually run bypoliticians and not bystatesmen, which is a different thing altogether.
  • Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn,The Menace of the Herd (1943), p. 151

• Ethics is as crucial to apolitician as it is to a religious practitioner. Dangerous consequences will follow when politicians and rulers forgetmoralprinciples. Whether we believe inGod or karma, ethics is thefoundation of everyreligion.
  • Dalai Lama XIV,Dalailama.com

• He need only not have been a politician (the very name was a stumbling-block to a young lady's romance), and he would have been erected into a hero fit for a modernnovel.
  • Letitia Elizabeth Landon,Romance and Reality (1831), Vol. I, Chapter 2.
• The politician—oh, Job! the devil should have made you prime minister—set the Tories to impeach your religion, the Whigs your patriotism—placed a couple of Sunday newspapers before you—he certainly would have succeeded in making you curse and swear too; and then posterity—it will just be a mooted point for future historians, whether you were the saviour, the betrayer, or the tyrant of your country, those being the three choice epitaphs kept for the especial use of patriots in power.
  • Letitia Elizabeth Landon,Romance and Reality (1831), Vol. II, Chapter 3.

• Senator [Stephen] Douglas is of world-wide renown. All the anxious politicians of his party, or who have been of his party for years past, have been looking upon him as certainly, at no distant day, to be thePresident of the United States. They have seen in his round, jolly, fruitful face, postoffices, landoffices, marshalships, and cabinet appointments, chargeships and foreign missions, bursting and sprouting out in wonderful exuberance ready to be laid hold of by their greedy hands.
  • Abraham Lincoln, speech at Springfield, Illinois (July 17, 1858); Roy P. Basler, ed.,The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (1953), vol. 2, p. 506 (1953).

• And I am evensicker of politicians who wrap themselves in the bloodyflag and try to rub off some of the stench ofdeath from the bodies of those who have died, mostly in vain forworthlesscauses, in hopes that taking on some of theodor will cause them to be perceived asadmirablepatriots themselves.
  • Dave Lindorff,The Glorification of War (May 31, 2010),CounterPunch.

• The politicians pontificate and manoeuvre with eloquent manifestos and pronouncements saying little about the challenges we must confront.
  • Joni MadraiwiwiOur Country at the Crossroads - 2001 Parkinson Memorial Lecture Series, 15 August 2001

• It may be, sir, that the politicians of the United States are not so fastidious as some gentlemen are, as to disclosing the principles on which they act. They boldly preach what they practise. When they are contending for victory, they avow theirintention of enjoying the fruits of it. If they are defeated, they expect to retire from office. If they are successful, they claim, as a matter of right, the advantages of success. They see nothing wrong in the rule, that to the victor belong the spoils of the enemy.
  • William Learned Marcy, remarks in the Senate (January 25, 1832),Register of Debates in Congress, vol. 8, col. 1325. Marcy was defending Martin Van Buren, nominated as minister to England, against the attacks of Senator Henry Clay.

• Flip-flopping isn't always a bad thing. We want politicians to have principles, but we also want them to be flexible and to change with the times. This is an inherent tension in democratic politics, but it's a needed one. Within that tension, the work of governing gets done. It's where compromise happens, andcompromise is needed in a democracy or it's not a democracy. But it's not easy: Flip-flop too much, especially on core principles, and a politician is ineffective. Stick to their principles regardless of social change or their constituents' desires, and they're even more so.
  • Dan Mitchell,East Bay Express, 2024

• Well, I think all politicians tend to behave badly under the peculiar pressures of their trade. So I think they have chosen a profession where it's hard to behave well.
  • Charlie Munger, (March 22, 2011) "A Conversation with Charlie Munger".Ross School of Business, YouTube. (quote at 27:27 of 1:59:58)

• There is no such thing as a nonpolitical speech by a politician.
  • Richard Nixon, address to Radio-Television Executives Society, New York City (September 14, 1955), as reported byThe Christian Science Monitor (September 15, 1955), p. 6. This is not in the press release of the speech.

• Today there is more acceptance than ever before that women bring different experiences, perspectives, and skills to the table and make irreplaceable contributions to decisions, policies and laws that work better for all
  • Sithembiso Nyoni "'womens resilience unmatched'" (March 8, 2021)

• The politician cannot become religious – for the simple reason that politics, all politics, politics as such, is power politics. It is will-to-power. One wants to dominate, one wants to possess, one wants to be the decisive factor in people’s lives. These are the qualities of the ego.

  Obviously this type of person cannot bereligious becausereligion is basically the experience of egolessness. In religion there is no place for will-to-power. In fact, in religion there is no place even for will. Will-to-power is far away; even will-to-be is not there. One is in the hands of existence, in a deep let-go. This let-go is what I call religiousness. That’s why I said that religion and politics are opposite dimensions.

  • Osho, "I Am a Man Who Hopes against Hope,"From Darkness to Light

• None [of the guardians] should have any property of his own beyond what is absolutely necessary. ... They will live together likesoldiers in a camp. We will tell them that they havegold andsilver of a divine sort in their souls as a permanent gift from thegods, and have no need of human gold in addition. And we will add that it is impious for the to defile this divine possession by possessing an admixture of mortal gold, because many impious deeds have been done for the sake of the currency of the masses, whereas their sort is pure.
  • Plato,The Republic, 416d, C. Reeve, trans. (2004)

• If they acquire privateland,houses, andmoney themselves, they will be household managers and farmers instead of guardians—hostile masters of the other citizens, instead of their allies. They will spend their whole lives hating and being hated, plotting and being plotted against, much more afraid of internal than of external enemies.
  • Plato,The Republic, 417a, C. Reeve, trans. (2004)

• Superman: I’m here tofight fortruth, andjustice, and theAmerican way.

Lois Lane: You’re gonna end up fighting every elected official in thiscountry!

• Mario Puzo,David Newman,Leslie Newman,Robert Benton,Superman, (1978).

• So far as one can generalize, the most gracious, cultivated, and innovative people in this country areFrench Canadians. Certainly they have given us the most exciting politicians of our time:Trudeau,Lévesque. Without them,Canada would be an exceedingly boring and greatly diminished place.
  • Mordecai Richler, Reported in Donald Smith, D'une nation à l'autre: des deux solitudes à la cohabitation (Montreal: Éditions Alain Stanké, 1997), p. 61.

• Now, I don't know why, but that bit of scheduling reminds me of a story which I'll share with you. Anevangelicalminister and a politician arrived atHeaven's gate one day together. AndSt. Peter, after doing all the necessary formalities, took them in hand to show them where their quarters would be. And he took them to a small, single room with abed, a chair, and a table and said this was for the clergyman. And the politician was a little worried about what might be in store for him. And he couldn't believe it then when St. Peter stopped in front of a beautifulmansion with lovely grounds, manyservants, and told him that these would be his quarters. And he couldn't help but ask, he said, "But wait, how -- there's something wrong -- how do I get this mansion while that good and holy man only gets a single room?" And St. Peter said, "You have to understand how things are up here. We've got thousands and thousands of clergy. You're the first politician who ever made it."
  • Ronald Reagan,Remarks at the Annual Convention of the National Association of Evangelicals, delivered 8 March 1983, Orlando, Florida
• Everylivingcreature willnaturally attempt to discover andeliminate thecause of acatastrophe in which it finds itself involved. It will not repeat actions that brought about the catastrophe in the first place. This is howdifficulties are surmounted byexperience. Our politicians are far removed from such natural reactions. It would not be farfetched to say that it is in the nature of a politician that he does notlearn anything from experience.
  • Wilhelm Reich,The Mass Psychology of Fascism, (1933), p. 205.

• Theworkingmen andwomen whothink andact in a work-democratic way do not come out against the politician. It is not his fault or his intention that the practical result of his work exposes the illusionary and irrational character of politics. Those who are engaged inpractical work, regardless whatfield they are in, are intensely concerned with practical tasks in the improvement oflife. Those who are engaged in practical work are not against one thing or another. It is only the politician who, having no practical tasks is always against and never for something. Politics in general is characterized by this ‘being against’ one thing or another. That which is productive in a practical way is not accomplished by politicians, but by working men and women, whether it is in accord with the politicians’ideologies or not.
  • Wilhelm Reich,The Mass Psychology of Fascism, (1933), p. 368.

• Ashoemaker who loses himself inmysticalecstasy and begins to think of himself as asaviour of thepeople, sent byGod, will inevitably cut the soles thewrong way and mess up his stitches. Astime goes on, he will be faced withstarvation. It is precisely by this process, on the other hand, that thepolitician becomesstrong andrich.
  • Wilhelm Reich,The Mass Psychology of Fascism, (1933), p. 380.

• Not everyone inthis country is a thief or corrupt. If I was, I would be a politician and be doing far better in life.
  • Dušan Šestić, as quoted in"How many national anthems are plagiarised?" (26 August 2015),BBC

• The people should always control the politicians' decisions.
  • Oksana Shachko, as quoted inInterview: Speaking of Femen-ism (3 August 2015),Luxemburger Wort.

• He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.
  • George Bernard Shaw, "Major Barbara" (1905), Act III

• I was really too honest a man to be a politician and live.
  • Attributed toSocrates, but reported inRespectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989) as unverified in his writings or in interpretive writings about him. Possibly this is an interpretation of a passage from Plato, The Trial and Death of Socrates (The Apology), trans. F. J. Church, p. 61 (1880, reprinted 1972): "I do not venture to come forward in the assembly, and take part in public councils…. For, Athenians, it is quite certain that if I had attempted to take part in politics, I should have perished at once and long ago, without doing any good either to you or to myself. And do not be vexed with me for telling the truth".

• When I see the worsening degeneracy inour politicians,our media,our educators, and ourintelligentsia, I can’t help wondering if the day may yet come when the only thing that can save this country is amilitary coup.
  • Thomas Sowell, "Don’t Get Weak",National Review, May 1, 2007.

• He gave it for his opinion, that whosoever could make two ears ofcorn or two blades ofgrass to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together.
  • Jonathan Swift inGulliver's Travels (1726).

• Scrabbling like mad at their beloved fence, the politicians tried to avoid taking a definite position on either side.
  • William Tenn,The Masculinist Revolt (1965), originally published inThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, August 1965

• Theego may be clever, but it is not intelligent. Cleverness pursues its own little aims. Intelligence sees the larger whole in which all things are connected. Cleverness is motivated by self interest, and it is extremely shortsighted. Most politicians and businesspeople are clever. Very few are intelligent. Whatever is attained through cleverness is shortlived and always turns out to be eventually self defeating. Cleverness divides;intelligence unites.
  • Eckhart Tolle inA New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose, (2005)

• I'm proud that I'm a politician. A politician is a man who understands government, and it takes a politician to run a government. A statesman is a politician who's been dead 10 or 15 years.
  • Harry S. Truman, impromptu remarks before the Reciprocity Club, Washington, D.C. (April 11, 1958), as reported by theNew York World-Telegram and Sun (April 12, 1958), p. 4.

• Anytime a politician said he wouldn't beat around the bush, you were well advised to keep your hand on your wallet.
  • Harry Turtledove,The Great War: Walk in Hell (1999),ISBN 0-345-40561-7, p. 329

• I think politicians and movie actors and movie executives are similar in more ways than they're different. There is an egocentric quality about both; there is a very sensitive awareness of the public attitude, because you live or die on public favor or disfavor. There is the desire for publicity and for acclaim, because, again, that's part of your life…. And in a strange and bizarre way, when movie actors come toWashington, they're absolutely fascinated by the politicians. And when the politicians go toHollywood, they're absolutely fascinated by the movie stars. It's a kind of reciprocity of affection by people who both recognize in a sense they're in the same racket.
  • Jack Valenti, special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson, interview on National Public Radio (December 13, 1974); excerpt printed inThe Washingtonian (March 1975), p. 162.

• I'm not a politician and my other habits are good. I've no enemys to reward, nor friends to sponge. But I'm aUnion man.
  • Artemus Ward, Fourth of July oration delivered at Weathersfield, Connecticut (July 4, 1859); inThe Complete Works of Artemus Ward (1898), p. 175–76. According toBartlett's Familiar Quotations, 15th ed. (1980), p. 616, footnote 2, the first sentence was a favorite quotation of John F. Kennedy's.

• Man is by nature a political animal.
  • Aristotle, Politics, book 1, chapter 2.—Aristotle's Politics and Poetics, trans. Benjamin Jowett and Thomas Twining, p. 5 (1957). Jowett translated Politics. This statement appears again in book 3, chapter 6, p. 68.

• POLITICIAN, n. An eel in the fundamental mud upon which the superstructure of organized society is reared. When he wriggles he mistakes the agitation of his tail for the trembling of the edifice. As compared with the statesman, he suffers the disadvantage of being alive.
  • Ambrose Bierce,The Devil's Dictionary (1948), p. 259. Originally published in 1906 asThe Cynic's Word Book.

• [Trying to obtain information fromMr. Mitchell was] Like trying to nail a drop ofwater to the wall.
  • George E. Danielson, remark referring to former Attorney General John N. Mitchell's testimony during the Watergate hearings held by the House Judiciary Committee, Washington, D.C., July 10, 1974.—The New York Times, July 11, 1974, p. 14.

• A garden, you know, is a very usual refuge of a disappointed politician. Accordingly, I have purchased a few acres about nine miles from town, have built a house, and am cultivating a garden.
  • Alexander Hamilton, letter to Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, December 29, 1802.—The Works of Alexander Hamilton, ed. John C. Hamilton, vol. 6, p. 551 (1851).

• I don't believe in labels. I want to do the best I can, all the time. I want to be progressive without getting both feet off the ground at the same time. I want to be prudent without having my mind closed to anything that is new or different. I have often said that I was proud that I was a free man first and an American second, and apublic servant third and a Democrat fourth, in that order, and I guess as a Democrat, if I had to take—place a label on myself, I would want to be aprogressive who is prudent.
  • Lyndon B. Johnson, television and radio interview, March 15, 1964.Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1963–64, book 1, p. 368.

• "Don't teach my boy poetry", anEnglish mother recently wrote the Provost of Harrow. "Don't teach my boy poetry; he is going to stand forParliament". Well, perhaps she was right—but if more politicians knew poetry, and morepoets knew politics, I am convinced the world would be a little better place to live on this Commencement Day of 1956.
  • John F. Kennedy, address to the annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association, Cambridge, Massachusetts, June 14, 1956.—Text, p. 11–12.

• [Politicians] are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.
  • Nikita Khrushchev, impromptu remark made during a visit toBelgrade,Yugoslavia, August 21, 1963, as reported by the New York Herald Tribune, August 22, 1963, p. 16.

• I once said cynically of a politician, "He'll double-cross that bridge when he comes to it".
  • Oscar Levant, The Memoirs of an Amnesiac, p. 13 (1965).

• You have to pursue the ideals of aJoan of Arc with the political prowess of anAdam Clayton Powell. Whatever you say about Joan, her purpose was noble. And whatever you say about Adam, his politics is effective; it gets things done he wants done.
  • Bill D. Moyers, remarks, conference on the returned Peace Corps volunteer, Washington, D.C., March 5–7, 1965.—Citizen in a Time of Change: The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Report of the Conference, p. 69 (1965).

• In my youth, I, too, entertained some illusions; but I soon recovered from them. The great orators who rule theassemblies by the brilliancy of their eloquence are in general men of the most mediocre political talents: they should not be opposed in their own way; for they have always more noisy words at command than you. Their eloquence should be opposed by a serious and logical argument; their strength lies in vagueness; they should be brought back to the reality of facts; practical arguments destroy them. In the council, there were men possessed of much more eloquence than I was: I always defeated them by this simple argument—two and two make four.
  • Napoleon, dictated to Count Montholon to be passed on to Napoleon's son.—Charles-Tristan de Montholon, History of the Captivity of Napoleon at St. Helena, vol. 3, p. 187 (1847).

• I'd rather keep my promises to other politicians than to God. God, at least, has a degree offorgiveness.
  • Author unknown; reported inThe Washington Post (June 9, 1978), p. C1, quoting a "veteran Virginia Democrat".

• Corruption
• Democracy
• Ethics
• Military-Industrial complex
• Noblesse oblige
• Oligarchy
• Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, by Buckminster Fuller, (1969)
• Politics
• Ruler
• Statesmanship

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