Quotes About Politics

The great political problem in our modern democracy is how to induce our leaders to lead.

It is obvious that politics would gain much in prestige if the money-raising campaign were conducted candidly and publicly, like the campaigns for the war funds. Charity drives might be made excellent models for political funds drives. The elimination of the little black bag element in politics would raise the entire prestige of politics in America, and the public interest would be infinitely greater if the actual participation occurred earlier and more constructively in the campaign.

The stability of the planet – and the presumption of restraint – will have to rest in the hands of Xi Jinping and other powerful leaders. To forestall disaster, the rest of the world will have no choice but to try to put themselves in Trump's shoes.

We cannot simultaneously pursue democracy, national determination and economic globalisation.

In the US, the more liberal a city's politics, the higher the rate of inequality.

Though I try to avoid generalising about gender, it is fair to say that men are less adaptable to disruptions in their work routines than women, and more liable to vent their anger politically. To anyone who doubts that, I have a flying car to sell you. Meanwhile, remind yourselves of the impact manufacturing job losses have had on Western politics. Way more than half of Trump's voters were male. The same applies to the Brexit electorate.

People tend to form political beliefs in their early years and then stick with them for life. If today's rich young are tomorrow's thought leaders, democracy has a shaky future.

No bourgeoisie, no democracy.

Many comfort themselves that Trump's victory was an accident delivered by the dying gasp of America's white majority – and abetted by Putin. History will resume normal business after a brief interruption. How I wish they were right. I fear they are not.

Mitt Romney

Since the turn of the millennium, and particularly over the last decade, no fewer than twenty-five democracies have failed around the world, three of them in Europe (Russia, Turkey and Hungary).

Don't sacrifice your political convictions for the convenience of the hour.

It's dismaying to see the unilateralism that the government is doing.

I almost forgot what it's like to be proud of my government.

Let me be clear. I don't object to some people being richer, even much richer, than others. I object to gain of wealth through political connections rather than earning it by merit.

The politician is ... trained in the art of inexactitude. His words tend to be blunt or rounded, because if they have a cutting edge they may later return to wound him.

When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained.

So does nobody care about Ireland?" "Nobody. Neither King Louis, nor King Billie, nor King James." He nodded thoughtfully. "The fate of Ireland will be decided by men not a single one of whom gives a damn about her. That is her tragedy.

It was politics and religion, in van Dyck's private view, that made men dangerous. Trade made them wise.

You can make money in a small way without politics. But to make big money, you need to buy the legislature. Can't be done otherwise.

The steady advance, and cultural power, of marketing and advertising has caused "the displacement of a political public sphere by a depoliticized consumer culture."21

Human rulers get poisoned or decapitated or simply voted out of office all the time, as our set of personal desires, our chimpanzee DNA, rears its individualistic head.

Politics is not a game. It exists to resolve the largest questions of the society—the agreed-upon terms by which everyone can live peaceably with one another. At its best politics creates and sustains social relationships—the human conversation and engagement that draw people together and allow them to discover their mutuality.2

Nobody believes a rumor here in Washington until it's officially denied.