Quotes About Politics

In short, attempts to equalize economic results lead to greater—and more dangerous—inequality in political power.

The way the question is posed by many in the media and in politics, you would think our intelligence agencies were listening in on you talking on the phone to your aunt Mabel. Be serious! There are more than a quarter of a billion people in the United States. Intelligence agencies have neither the manpower, the time, the money, nor the interest to listen in on you and your aunt Mabel.

were now not only affluent themselves but were also able to help family members-hut only so long as they stayed in office.'-

According to House minority leader Richard Gephardt: "What we have is two important values in direct conflict: freedom of speech and our desire for healthy campaigns in a healthy democracy.

attained democracy, as brutal dictatorships took over, led to the cynical phrase: One man, one vote-one time.

The most fundamental fact about the ideas of the political left is that they do not work. Therefore we should not be surprised to find the left concentrated in institutions where ideas do not have to work in order to survive.

Dado que las elecciones democráticas se realizan siempre a corto plazo, los políticos tienen todos los incentivos para extraer tanta riqueza como les sea posible del capital fijo bajo su jurisdicción, ya sea a través de impuestos, de la imposición de cargas sobre la propiedad o de la expropiación. Solamente la conciencia del público sobre las consecuencias a largo plazo puede limitar esta forma de explotación.

el éxito de los políticos no depende de que aprendan sus lecciones sobre historia o política, sino que depende mucho más de que tengan la capacidad de actuar en función de lo que es ampliamente creído por el público y los medios, lo que puede incluir teorías conspirativas o la creencia de que los precios más altos se deben al engaño o a la avaricia.

WW2 films on the history channel show the desperate courage of the men and women who fought the battles. What a painful contrast with the cheap cowardice of the politicians who got them into such a mess in the first place.

Adam Smith declared "the good temper and moderation of contending factions" to be "the most essential circumstance in the public morals of a free people." But what good temper or moderation can be expected when a major segment of the population becomes convinced that "the system is rigged" against them and morality is just a giant fraud?

In short, despite the unpromising record of politics as a means of raising a group from poverty to affluence, and despite the dangers of politicizing race, there are built-in incentives for individual political leaders to do just that.

we do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all.

it is not so much your hostility that injures us; it is rather the case that, if we were on friendly terms with you, our subjects would regard that as a sign of weakness in us, whereas your hatred is evidence of our power.

those who are politically apathetic can only survive if they are supported by people who are capable of taking action.

Democracy is incapable of empire

The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta, made war inevitable.

Accordingly Attica, from the poverty of its soil enjoying from a very remote period freedom from faction

But here, as on so many other occasions, the Lacedaemonians proved the most convenient people in the world for the Athenians to be at war with.

THE HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR

By Thucydides 431 BC

Phalius son of Eratocleides

These examples should be models for communication, precisely because they inspire curiosity. "How does money influence politics?" is not an especially engaging question, but "If I were running for president, how would I raise lots of money with few conditions and no scrutiny?" is much more intriguing.

I felt like everything I ever knew and believed about my country, my career, my colleagues were a lie. The Americans I most despised had taken over the country I loved, bringing almost everyone I had once looked up to along with them.

If Crooked Hillary became president, that would be catastrophic because humina humina humina I'm required to say this for my career to survive.