I find myself… hoping a total end of all the unhappy divisions of mankind by party-spirit, which at best is but the madness of many for the gain of a few.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
If a politician isn’t doing it to his wife , then he’s doing it to his country.
—Amy Grant (b.1960) American Singer-Songwriter
A political organization is a transferable commodity. You could not find a better way of killing virtue than by packing it into one of these contraptions which some gang of thieves is sure to find useful.
—John Jay Chapman (1862–1933) American Literary Critic, Essayist
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
He serves his party best who serves his country best.
—Rutherford B. Hayes (1822–93) American 19th Century President
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
Politics is the science of exigencies.
—Theodore Parker (1810–60) American Unitarian Minister, Abolitionist
A politician never forgets the precarious nature of elective life. We have never established a practice of tenure in public office.
—Hubert Humphrey (1911–78) American Head of State, Politician
The political arena leaves one no alternative, one must either be a dunce or a rogue.
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940) Lithuanian-American Anarchist, Feminist
In politics, people give you what they think you deserve and deny you what they think you want.
—Cecil Parkinson (1931–2016) British Politician
In politics we presume that everyone who knows how to get votes knows how to administer a city or a state. When we are ill… we do not ask for the handsomest physician, or the most eloquent one.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
Every political system is an accumulation of habits, customs, prejudices, and principles that have survived a long process of trial and error and of ceaseless response to changing circumstances. If the system works well on the whole, it is a lucky accident—the luckiest, indeed, that can befall a society.
—Edward C. Banfield (1916–99) American Scientist, Professor
Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.
—Henry Kissinger (1923–2023) American Statesman, Diplomat, Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Let us not forget that we can never go farther than we can persuade at least half of the people to go.
—Hugh Gaitskell (1906–63) British Labour Politician
Any man with a fine shock of hair, a good set of teeth, and a bewitching smile can park his brains, if he has any, and run for public office.
—Unknown
It is hard to say why politicians are called servants, unless it is because a good one is hard to find.
—Gerald F. Lieberman
If everybody in this town connected with politics had to leave town because of chasing women and drinking, you would have no government.
—Barry Goldwater (1909–98) American Politician, Businessperson, Representative
I do not deny that there may be other well-founded causes for the hatred which various classes feel toward politicians, but the main one seems to me that politicians are symbols of the fact that every class must take every other class into account.
—Jose Ortega y. Gasset (1883–1955) Spanish Critic, Journalist, Philosopher
If it’s going to come out eventually, better have it come out immediately.
—Henry Kissinger (1923–2023) American Statesman, Diplomat, Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Democrats can’t get elected unless things get worse, and things won’t get worse unless they get elected.
—Jeane Kirkpatrick (1926–2006) American Diplomat, Academic
The politician who never made a mistake never made a decision.
—John Major (b.1943) British Head of State
Any 20 year-old who isn’t a liberal doesn’t have a heart, and any 40 year-old who isn’t a conservative doesn’t have a brain.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
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
I played by the rules of politics as I found them.
—Richard Nixon (1913–94) American Head of State, Lawyer
The work of the political activist inevitably involves a certain tension between the requirement that position be taken on current issues as they arise and the desire that one’s contributions will somehow survive the ravages of time.
—Angela Davis (b.1944) American Political Activist, Academic
Party leads to vicious, corrupt and unprofitable legislation, for the sole purpose of defeating party.
—James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) American Novelist
An empty stomach is not a good political advisor.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
The two maxims of any great man at court are, always to keep his countenance, and never to keep his word.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
People with high ideals don’t necessarily make good politicians. If clean politics is so important, we should leave the job to scientists and the clergy.
—Michio Watanabe (1923–95) Japanese Politician
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