“Good politicians need not be intellectuals, but they should have intellectual lives.” NeedsShouldPoliticianIntellectualShould HaveIntellectual LifeGood Politicians Author:Gary Gutting
“An intellectual may be interested in ideas and policies for their own sake, but a politician's interest is exclusively in the question of whether an idea's time has come.” MayIdeasInterestPolicyPoliticianIntellectualSake Author:Michael Ignatieff
“(A unified) 'Europe' is the result of plans. It is, in fact, a classic utopian project, a monument to the vanity of intellectuals, a programme whose inevitable destiny is failure: only the scale of the final damage done is in doubt.” DoneFactsResultsDestinyDoubtPlansFailurePoliticianProjectsIntellectualEuropeFinalsScalesPlanningVanityInevitableClassicDamageMonumentUtopiaProgrammesUtopianUnified Author:Margaret Thatcher
“I am not a politician. I have often been approached in this regard, but I have always declined these sorts of offers. I view myself as an independent, critical intellectual, as someone who tries to stimulate thought on the left and the right, to encourage intellectual evolution.” TryingLeftViewsEvolutionPoliticianOffersIntellectualRegardIndependentCritical Author:Tariq Ramadan
“Today I have lost one of my dearest friends, England one of her greatest men. Keith Joseph understood that it was necessary to win again the intellectual argument for freedom, and that to do this we must start from first principles. He was in many ways an unlikely revolutionary. For all his towering intellect, he was deeply humble. He spoke out boldly, however hostile the audience. Yet he hated to give offence. Above all, his integrity shone out in everything he said and did. His best memorial lies in the younger generations of politicians whom he inspired. But for me he is irreplaceable.” MenWayGivingFirstsSaidTodayLyingWinningLostPrinciplesAudienceGenerationsPoliticianIntegrityIntellectualUnderstoodArgumentEnglandInspiredHumbleIntellectHatedRevolutionarySpokesHostileUnlikelyMemorialOffenceYounger GenerationKeithIrreplaceableLost OnesGreatest ManDearest Friend Author:Margaret Thatcher
“The rapists of the intellectual world become politicians; the seducers become artists.” WorldArtistPoliticianIntellectual Author:Robert Anton Wilson
“Abraham Lincoln did have intellectual instincts, a tremendous curiosity on a broad range of subjects, and a near-photographic memory for what he read. He was, at the end of the day, a politician: politics were his heaven, said William Herndon. But Lincoln did take comfort in ideas and books, more so than almost any other president, and he went to books and ideas in moments of perplexity to sort things out. Philosopher, no, but thoughtful and "surprisingly well-read" for his day.” BookMomentsHeavenPresidentMemoriesPoliticianComfortIntellectualInstinctCuriosityPhilosopherThoughtful Author:Allen C. Guelzo