Quotes About Compromise

'Compromise' isn't supposed to be a dirty word. It is, in fact, how representative democracy works.

When you're on the floor of the House of Representatives in the Democratic caucus, I like to say it feels like New Jersey. You have all different opinions, you have all different ideas.

I don't look forward to a time when every politician, every legislator goes to Washington absolutely committed to an extreme point of view. Elected representatives are sent to Washington to compromise, not to never compromise.

My husband is a Democrat, and I am a Republican, so our political ambitions are on opposite ends.

The name 'Republican' in some ways has been hijacked by obstructionists.

You can't work across party lines when there aren't many of them. So I'm going to work across Republican Party lines because there are a lot of divisions in the Republican Party.

One miscalculation I made is I did not fully appreciate that the Republicans in Congress were going to just say no to everything. Even when there are ideas that have traditionally been bipartisan.

When the Founding Fathers arrived here in Philadelphia to forge a new nation, they didn't come as Democrats or Republicans or to nominate a presidential candidate. They came as patriots who feared party politics.

At the end of the day, Democrats go out and appeal to 30 percent of the far left; Republicans go out and appeal to 30 percent of the far right. Hey, there's a big middle ground here that's not represented. I think that, Bill Weld and myself, I think the Libertarian Party really occupies that ground.

While 2013 will not see a major national election, we can be sure that most Republicans will obstruct and some Democrats will appease.

The Republicans are coming - make nice.

It used to be that Democrats and Republicans would disagree, but they could be social to each other. There were times during the year that we acted together in the good of the country.

Clinton knew how to get things done. He was battling the Republicans, and then he basically took a lot of their agenda and made it his own. That's what Obama's not doing.

I'm going to work with Republicans when they do things I agree with and I'm going to fight Republicans when they're doing things that I think are damaging.

I say Republicans aren't right all the time. Democrats aren't wrong all the time - now, maybe most of the time, but not all the time.

I'm not someone who thinks Republicans are always wrong and Democrats are always right.

The legacies of Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat, of Yitzhak Rabin and King Hussein, stand as an inspiration for all who work for peace.

I shall ask no more than that you agree with Dean Inge that even though counting heads is not an ideal way to govern, at least it is better than breaking them.

We did not seek ideological confrontation.

If we work to find common ground rather than fighting from entrenched, simplistic, ideological corners, we can have the safety we need and the justice we deserve.

The second you feel a political imperative, it destroys your art.

There is always a 'but' in this imperfect world.

It's a very important thing to learn to talk to people you disagree with.

An agreement cannot be the result of an imposition.