1. Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong
2. Democracy arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects; because men are equally free, they claim to be absolutely equal.
3. The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
4. Political language… is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
5. When the political columnists say ‘Every thinking man’ they mean themselves, and when candidates appeal to ‘Every intelligent voter’ they mean everybody who is going to vote for them
6. In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.
7. Mankind will never see an end of trouble until lovers of wisdom come to hold political power, or the holders of power become lovers of wisdom.
8. An empty stomach is not a good political advisor.
9. Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.
10. There are always too many Democratic congressmen, too many Republican congressmen, and never enough U.S. congressmen.”
11. In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man; if you want anything done, ask a woman.
12. In politics stupidity is not a handicap.
13. “A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they’re dead.”
14. “Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.”
15. “We live in a world in which politics has replaced philosophy.”
16. “When our government is spoken of as some menacing, threatening, foreign entity, it ignores the fact that in our democracy, government is us.”
17. “Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.”
18. “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.”
19. “Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule — and both commonly succeed, and are right.”
20. “Some men change their party for the sake of their principles; others their principles for the sake of their party.”
21. “An election is coming. Universal peace is declared, and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry.”
22. “Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so.”
23. “It is not in the nature of politics that the best men should be elected. The best men do not want to govern their fellowmen.”
24. “The word ‘politics’ is derived from the word ‘poly’, meaning ‘many’, and the word ‘ticks’, meaning ‘blood sucking parasites.’”
25. “If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.”
26. “Since the majority is always wrong, might we try one election day where all the losers take office?”
27. “During a campaign the air is full of speeches — and vice versa.”
28. “Before you can begin to think about politics at all, you have to abandon the notion that there is a war between good men and bad men.”
29. “So, if we lie to the government, it’s a felony. If they lie to us, it’s politics.”
30. “Do you ever get the feeling that the only reason we have elections is to find out if the polls were right?”
31. “Politics — I don’t know why, but they seem to have a tendency to separate us, to keep us from one another, while nature is always and ever making efforts to bring us together.”
32. “Democracy is being allowed to vote for the candidate you dislike least.”
33. “Finance is a gun. Politics is knowing when to pull the trigger.”
34. “Politics are almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics many times.”
35. “A political convention is just not a place where you come away with any trace of faith in human nature.”
36. “A politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn’t happen.”
37. “Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president but they don’t want them to become politicians in the process.”
38. “A politician thinks of the next election – a statesman of the next generation.”
39. “Since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken at his word.”
40. “As between God, country and apple pie, politicians have done the least harm in the name of apple pie.”
41. “Statesmen tell you what is true even though it may be unpopular. Politicians will tell you what is popular, even though it may be untrue.”
42. “Now I know what a statesman is; he’s a dead politician. We need more statesmen!”
43. “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”
44. “We are weary of politicians’ politicians. We want ours.”
45. “A politician is like quicksilver: if you try to put your finger on him, you find nothing underneath it. “
46. “I think it’s about time we voted for senators with breasts. After all, we’ve been voting for boobs long enough.”
47. “Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.”
48. “We’d all like to vote for the best man, but he’s never a candidate.”
49. “In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.”
50. “I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.”
51. “Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.”
52. “The politicians were talking themselves red, white and blue in the face.”
53. “Politicians say they’re beefing up our economy. Most don’t know beef from pork.”
54. “A politician should have three hats. One for throwing into the ring, one for talking through, and one for pulling rabbits out of if elected.”
55. “This right to vote is the basic right without which all others are meaningless. It gives people, people as individuals, control over their own destinies.”
56. “If we don’t vote, we are ignoring history and giving away the future.”
57. “Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.”
58. “You’ve got to vote, vote, vote, vote. That’s it; that’s the way we move forward.”
59. “Our political leaders will know our priorities only if we tell them, again and again, and if those priorities begin to show up in the polls.”
60. “The vote is precious. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democratic society, and we must use it.”
