Politics Quotes

Politics is not about power.

~ Paul Wellstone

For those of you who still believe in the Easter Bunny and that the letters that appear in your local newspaper come from concerned citizens who really care, I've got troubling news. At least in politics, most of the letters that get published on the letters-to-the-editor page originate in the campaign headquarters of the candidates.

~ Peter Navarro

The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

~ John Stuart Mill

I think we need more young people; we need to elect young people to government. We need to give them a chance, in the media, in politics, in democracy.

~ Mikhail Gorbachev

I'm obsessed with politics, and I talk about it any chance I can get. I have strong opinions about how the world should be run.

~ Moby

If you are worried about what people think of you, you should go into politics. Real actors take chances.

~ Rob Lowe

Isn't that what we come into politics for? To say to people: 'You can do it, too - there is a chance to serve your community. There is a chance to shape it co-operatively and democratically, without fear or favour.' And that is what I tried to do.

~ Joan Kirner

In the 'Dreamblood' books, I'm focusing more on what I like about epic fantasy: the layering and depth of tension; the chance to really delve into the minutia of an alternate society and its politics; a large cast of characters to love and hate.

~ N. K. Jemisin

In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican.

~ H. L. Mencken

The career of politics grants a feeling of power. The knowledge of influencing men, of participating in power over them, and above all, the feeling of holding in one's hands a nerve fiber of historically important events can elevate the professional politician above everyday routine even when he is placed in formally modest positions.

~ Max Weber

Anyone who thinks that the vice-president can take a position independent of the president of his administration simply has no knowledge of politics or government. You are his choice in a political marriage, and he expects your absolute loyalty.

~ Hubert H. Humphrey

When Kennedy could not get the civil rights bill passed - and he was the big liberal - Lyndon Johnson came in and it got passed, and he was the conservative and the southerner. So sometimes in politics, to get something done, it takes a special kind of knowledge and a special kind of person, but it doesn't always follow the party lines.

~ Jim Brown

If you have a deep-seated need to be loved and admired every day, you shouldn't be in politics. You should go work at a pet store.

~ Michael Nutter

Liberalism is trust of the people tempered by prudence. Conservatism is distrust of the people tempered by fear.

~ William E. Gladstone

National politics and elections are dominated by emotions, by lack of self-confidence, by fear of the other, by insecurity, by infection of the body politic by the virus of victimhood.

~ Tariq Ramadan

Divorced from ethics, leadership is reduced to management and politics to mere technique.

~ James Macgregor Burns

Populist promises to reverse every tough decision are nothing but empty rhetoric, irresponsible leadership, and bad politics. They are not the solution to Ireland's problems.

~ Enda Kenny

We need leadership. We don't need a doubling down on the failed politics of the past.

~ Paul Ryan

Nobody in a leadership level in American politics is trying to inspire the American people. Everybody needs to be goosed. The vast majority of people are not self-starters.

~ Rush Limbaugh

As in nature, politics abhors a vacuum. Without a strong voice for more moderate leadership, the Tea Party is filling that vacuum.

~ Mark Mckinnon

Enter the candidates on horseback: While military leaders can sometimes be dangerous in politics, our best generals and admirals embody the democratic values and leadership skills for which the country is yearning.

~ David Ignatius

I think there are lots of ways to exercise ambition and accomplish things using leadership without going into elected politics. So, categorically, I have no intention of going into elected politics. None.

~ Chris Hadfield

They said it was impossible to touch the third rail of politics, to take on public-sector unions and to reform a pension and health benefits system that was headed to bankruptcy. But with bipartisan leadership, we saved taxpayers $132 billion dollars over 30 years and saved retirees their pensions. We did it.

~ Chris Christie

I think President Obama could have handled politics and policies differently. But he has been decisive, strong, and consistent - important qualities in a president. Mitt Romney is indeed an Etch A Sketch, the antithesis of leadership.

~ Eliot Spitzer

President Obama chose politics over leadership. 'Hope' and 'Change' have become bait-and-switch.

~ Lindsey Graham

Sitting at a candidate rally is similar to sitting in a ballyard. Both give you the opportunity to assess the technical metrics and reflect on the intangibles - what baseball calls 'make up' and politics calls 'character' - the leadership, talent and maturity to add value to a venture.

~ Christine Pelosi

In politics, Joseph Smith was something of a radical. He preached, instead of democracy, a version of theocratic rule within a framework given by his own prophetic leadership. At Nauvoo, Smith affected a Napoleonic uniform and made himself into a general and quasi king of the polity he had constituted.

~ Noah Feldman

In politics, as in business, leadership is crucial.

~ Edgar Bronfman

Unfortunately, money in politics is an insidious thing - and a loophole in our campaign finance system was taken advantage of with money going to existing or new 527 groups with the sole purpose of influencing the election.

~ Olympia Snowe

It was not my wish to come into politics. I was not a public person; I preferred to spend my birthdays with family and friends. But the 2008 elections were fraudulent, so I decided to finance the opposition to make them stronger.

~ Bidzina Ivanishvili

The biggest misconception people have about me is that when they see how young I am, they think, 'Oh, this guy must have always wanted to be in politics; his parents must have been politically connected.' I'm a finance major and always intended to go into business.

~ Aaron Schock

The problem of how we finance the welfare state should not obscure a separate issue: if each person thinks he has an inalienable right to welfare, no matter what happens to the world, that's not equity, it's just creating a society where you can't ask anything of people.

~ Jacques Delors

We need real campaign finance reform to loosen the grip of special interests on politics.

~ Tom Daschle

Finance is a gun. Politics is knowing when to pull the trigger.

~ Mario Puzo

People can get information - on entertainment, politics, finance - much easier than before. That will change the way people do business, the way people live.

~ Robin Li

The politics have always been difficult in medicine. There is some truth in the way medical practice is portrayed in TV dramas.

~ Barry Marshall

Genocide is not just a murderous madness; it is, more deeply, a politics that promises a utopia beyond politics - one people, one land, one truth, the end of difference. Since genocide is a form of political utopia, it remains an enduring temptation in any multiethnic and multicultural society in crisis.

~ Michael Ignatieff

If there is one eternal truth of politics, it is that there are always a dozen good reasons for doing nothing.

~ John Le Carré

If you ever injected truth into politics you have no politics.

~ Will Rogers

Half a truth is better than no politics.

~ Gilbert K. Chesterton