At home you always have to be a politician. When you’re abroad you almost feel yourself a statesman.
—Harold Macmillan (1894–1986) British Head of State
Since a politician never believes what he says, he is surprised when others believe him.
—Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) French General, Statesman
Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel.
—Quintilian (c.35–c.100 CE) Roman Rhetorician, Literary Critic
Ignorance makes most men go into a political party, and shame keeps them from getting out of it.
—E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax (1881–1959) British Politician, Political leader
To rely upon conviction, devotion, and other excellent spiritual qualities—that is not to be taken seriously in politics.
—Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) Russian Revolutionary Leader
In politics, as in life, we must above all things wish only for the attainable.
—Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) German Poet, Writer
Politics is not an exact science.
—Otto von Bismarck (1815–98) German Chancellor, Prime Minister
You have to have been a Republican to know how good it is to be a Democrat.
—Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929–94 ) American First Lady
Never answer a question from a farmer.
—Hubert Humphrey (1911–78) American Head of State, Politician
It is unfair to expect a politician to live in private up to the statements he makes in public.
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
Idealism is the noble toga that political gentlemen drape over their will to power.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
A recent survey was said to prove that the people we Americans most admire are our politicians and doctors. I don’t believe it. They are simply the people we are most afraid of. And with the most reason.
—Unknown
Politics is the reflex of the business and industrial world.
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940) Lithuanian-American Anarchist, Feminist
A politician divides mankind into two classes; tools and enemies.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
There is no more independence in politics than there is in jail.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
My constituency is the desperate, the damned, the disinherited, the disrespected and the despised.
—Jesse Jackson (b.1941) American Baptist Civil Rights Activist, Minister
I’m not a member of any organized political party, I’m a Democrat!
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
One can say that three pre-eminent qualities are decisive for the politician: passion, a feeling of responsibility, and a sense of proportion.
—Max Weber (1864–1920) German Sociologist
Every clique is a refuge for incompetence. It fosters corruption and disloyalty, it begets cowardice, and consequently is a burden upon and a drawback to the progress of the country. Its instincts and actions are those of the pack.
—Soong Mei-ling (1898–2003) First Lady of the Republic of China
It is our experience that political leaders do not always mean the opposite of what they say.
—Abba Eban (1915–2002) Israeli Diplomat, Politician
In politics, people give you what they think you deserve and deny you what they think you want.
—Cecil Parkinson (1931–2016) British Politician
A conservative government is an organized hypocrisy
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
The mistake a lot of politicians make is in forgetting they’ve been appointed and thinking they’ve been anointed.
—Claude Pepper (1900–89) American Politician
Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.
—Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chinese Statesman
In the domain of Political Economy, free scientific inquiry meets not merely the same enemies as in all other domains. The peculiar nature of the material it deals with, summons as foes into the field of battle the most violent, mean and malignant passions of the human breast, the Furies of private interest.
—Karl Marx (1818–1883) German Philosopher, Economist
Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
This country has gotten where it is in spite of politics, not by the aid of it. That we have carried as much political bunk as we have and still survived shows we are a super nation.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
But a good patriot, and a true politician, always considers how he shall make the most of the existing materials of his country. A disposition, to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman. Everything else is vulgar in the conception, perilous in the execution.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds.
—Henry Adams (1838–1918) American Historian, Man of Letters