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Politician Quotes

“Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions.”

Source: The Fœderalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favor of the New Constitution, as Agreed Upon by the Fœderal Convention, September 17, 1787. Reprinted from the Original Text. With an Historical Introduction and Notes

“A guy named Adolf Hitler won an election in 1932 ... and 50 million people died as a result ... what I learned as a little kid is that politics is, in fact, very important.”

People Littles Important Facts Kids Political Guy Results Millions Politician Died Election I've Learned Nazi Little Kid

Author:Bernie Sanders

“Political systems must love poverty-they produce so much of it. Poor people make easier targets for a demagogue. No Mao or even Jiang Zemin is likely to arise on the New York Stock Exchange floor. And politicians in democracies benefit from destitution, too. The US has had a broad range of poverty programs for 30 years. Those programs have failed. Millions of people are still poor. And those people vote for politicians who favor keeping the poverty programs in place. There's a conspiracy theory in there somewhere.”

Source: Eat the Rich: A Treatise on Economics

“One of the difficulties of politics is that politicians are shocked by those who are really prepared to let their thinking reach any conclusion. Political thinking consists in deciding upon the conclusion first and then finding good arguments for it. An open mind is considered irresponsible- and perhaps it really is.”

Thinking Mind Firsts Political Politician Findings Argument Difficulty Prepared Conclusion Shocked Open Mind Irresponsible Political Thinking

Author:Richard Crossman

“[Political] conventions lend themselves to pandering, as few politicians can resist the temptation to tell a national television audience how well they will run the country if elected. The problem is that government is not supposed to run the country - we're supposed to be free.”

Ifs Wells Country Problem Government Running Political Audience Television Politician Temptation Supposed To Be Conventions

Author:Ron Paul

“If democracy is ever to be threatened, it will not be by revolutionary groups burning government offices and occupying the broadcasting and newspaper offices of the world. It will come from disenchantment, cynicism and despair caused by the realisation that the New World Order means we are all to be managed and not represented.”

“Primarily affecting low-information voters and members of the mainstream media, Obama Worship Syndrome attributes impossible capabilities to Obama's political opponents, finds excuses for every Obama failure in everyone around him and praises the president as the finest politician - nay, human being - of our time.”

“What does a political revolution look like? It means that 80 percent of the people vote in national elections, not 40 percent. It means that billionaires can't make unlimited campaign contributions and buy and sell politicians. It means that the U.S. government represents the needs of all the people, not just the 1 percent and their lobbyists.”

“We need the political will, and that often comes from the will of the people. So if celebrities or personalities can help to educate the people - not influence them, not tell them (what to do) - just tell them the truth about what's happening and let them form their own opinion, that will strengthen them and they will push their politicians.”

People Ifs Needs Helping Form Political Opinion Influence Personality Politician Happenings Educate Political Will

Author:Angelina Jolie

“The political process consists entirely of politicians talking out of their butts.”

Political Process Talking Politician

Author:P. J. O'Rourke

“When the strongest nation in the world can be tied up for years in a war with no end in sight, when the richest nation in the world can't manage its own economy, when the nation with the greatest tradition of the rule of law is plagued by unprecedented lawlessness, and when the President of the United States cannot travel abroad or to any major city at home without fear of a hostile demonstration - then it's time for new leadership for the United States of America.”

“Politicians and bureaucrats are substituting their uninformed, largely political decisions for those of the marketplace. Their past miscalculations demonstrate that they do not and cannot possess the information, knowledge, means, and discipline to manage the economy.”

Mean Past Political Decision Economy Information Discipline Politician Manage Marketplace Bureaucrats Uninformed Miscalculations Political Decisions Information Knowledge

Book:Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto

Source: Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto

“Dependency is the highest political good - at least for politicians. Since the 1930s, politicians have striven to leave no vote unbought.”

Political Politician Highest Vote 1930s Dependency

Book:Attention Deficit Democracy

Source: Attention Deficit Democracy

“Having spent years ruining the housing markets with their interference, leading to a housing meltdown that has taken the whole economy down with it, politicians have now moved on into micro-managing automobile companies and medical care. They are not going to stop unless they get stopped. And that is not going to happen until the voters recognize the fact that political rhetoric is no substitute for competence.”

“Never has the divide between the iPhone world and the politics world been so clear: I saw a bunch of people very well-served by their computers and telephones (very often Apple products) but undeniably shortchanged by our government-run cartel education system. And the tragedy for them - and for us - is that they will spend their energy trying to expand the sphere of the ineffective, hidebound, rent-seeking, unproductive political world, giving the . . .politicians. . .an even stronger whip hand over the Steve Jobses and Henry Fords - and we will be the poorer for it.”

“The politician who steals is worse than a thief. He is a fool. With all the grand opportunities around for the man with a political pull, there's no excuse for stealin' a cent.”

Men Political Opportunity He Man Fool Politician Excuse Stealing Cents Thieves No Excuses

Author:George W. Plunkitt

“[the downfall of our political system is the] buying and selling of politicians...bribery. In the private sector, you're arrested for it. In the public sector, it's the norm.”

Political Politician Selling Buying Norm Arrested Private Sector Political Systems Downfall Bribery Public Sector Buying And Selling

Author:Jesse Ventura

“Here in the United States, when the term "fascist" gets used, it`s either talking about other countries, ancient history or it`s used as a sort of insult, right, a sort of generic right wing epithet that people use to criticize politicians who are at most on the edge of mainstream American political thought.”

“After political crusades for 'affordable housing' ended up ruining the housing market and much of the economy with it, many of the same politicians are now carrying on a crusade for 'affordable health care.' But what you can afford has absolutely nothing to do with the cost of producing anything. Refusing to pay those costs means that you are just not going to continue getting the same quantity and quality - regardless of what any politician says or how well he says it.”

“Our politics is very masculine, very aggressive, and it's very polarizing. And the pace of this development has increased in recent years. Erdogan is, in my eyes, the most polarizing politician in recent Turkish political history.”

Years Eye Political Development Politician Pace Aggressive Masculine Turkish Political History Polarizing Erdogan

Author:Elif Safak

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.”

“Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct.”

Men Eye Political Politics Politician Office Longing Greed Casts Corruption Term Limits Politicians And Politics I Hate Politics Hate Politics

Book:Light and Liberty: Reflections on the Pursuit of Happiness

Source: Light and Liberty: Reflections on the Pursuit of Happiness

“When a man assumes a public trust he should consider himself a public property.”

Men Should Truth Political Politics Trust Politician Assuming Property Libertarian Aggravation Public Trust Politicians And Politics

Author:Thomas Jefferson

“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.”

“If one meets a powerful person--Adolf Hitler, Joe Stalin or Bill Gates--ask them five questions: "What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And how can we get rid of you?”

Political Interest Power Democracy Five Policy Politician Exercise Accountability Interest Groups

Author:Tony Benn

“This is me putting it simply; the politicians are one demographic and they see that Arizona is changing. I feel like the only instinct to retain power is to have education favor you. You have this Mexican American program that helps kids take ownership of their race and their power. It threatens the political powers that are in place.”

Feels Helping Kids Political Race Politician Program Instinct Favors Ownership Mexican Arizona Political Power Demographics Mexican American This Is Me

Author:Matt de la Pena

“Politicians had always viewed environmental issues as narrow things of no great political consequence. Sort of NIMBY issues. A big part of the reason was that the groups that cared about wilderness didn't talk with the groups that were trying to stop freeways from cutting through inner cities, and neither of them talked to the folks who wanted to stop the military from dumping Agent Orange on Vietnam.”

“I'm not a politician. I'm not a policy wonk. I was a political reporter, but that's not really what turns me on. What turns me on is how people perceive the issue and how people see people like me.”

People Political Turns Issues Policy Politician Like Me Perceive Reporters Turn Me

Author:Jose Antonio Vargas

“People respond to political characters in archetypal ways. A fun game is to think of a politician and ask, "Which god is that? Are they like Aries? Are they like Athena?"”

People Thinking Way Character Political Asks Games Fun Politician Athena Aries

Author:Zephyr Teachout

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

“I think that compared to other politicians who have been put in jail in the past, compared to the human-rights activists in history who have had to face political prosecution, the activists in Hong Kong nowadays are already quite lucky compared to that.”

Thinking Humans Has Beens Past Faces Political Rights Politician Lucky Human Rights Jail Activist Hong Kong Prosecution

Author:Joshua Wong

“I think one could argue that there's more political input into the regulatory side, and on the regulatory side there seem to be fewer people with financial and banking experience - there are more lawyers, academics, economists, maybe politicians now.”

People Thinking Seems Political Sides Politician Financial Lawyer Arguing Fewer Economist Banking Input

Author:Jamie Dimon

“I like to tell the streets what the political climate is, and I like to tell any politicians that's listening what the streets think. And sometimes people get nicked up and bruised up, but I usually have a lot of good medicine for that.”

People Thinking Sometimes Political Streets Listening Politician Medicine Climate Bruised

Author:Ice Cube

“They [politicians] have defined the war simply in terms of the detonation of explosives. When you look at the broader picture, America is mired in two wars that we're losing at the moment. We have a political environment that is as poisonous as anything I've seen, at least since the end of Vietnam.”

Looks Two War Ends Moments America Political Term Environment Politician Losing Defined Vietnam Explosives Poisonous Political Environment

Author:Michael Scheuer

“The politicians don't just want your money. They want your soul. They want you to be worn down by taxes until you are dependent and helpless.”

Want Soul Political Liberty Politician Taxes Libertarian Your Soul Dependent Libertarianism Worn Helpless

Author:James Dale Davidson

“No political politicians on the board and stop sub-contracting anyway, which means getting out of Iraq. If anything needs to be policed, it needs to be done through a proper international body... not through us sub-contracting teams of mercenaries.”

Ifs Needs Mean Done Body Political Team Politician International Iraq Boards Contracting

Author:Ken Loach

“Donald Trump has built a super successful business. He's an effective organizer. He's an effective execution-oriented executive. He has the right political personality to get on with people in a way that'll surprise people. He will cut deals in a way that are more favorable for America than what establishment politicians have done.”

People Way Done America Political Deals Successful Cutting Personality Trump Politician Built Surprise Executives Establishment Execution Successful Business Organizer

Author:Anthony Scaramucci

“There is a lack of economic and political motivation to defend life in the oceans. The profit is made by companies exploiting the oceans and they have the money to buy the politicians who make the laws.”

Made Law Political Motivation Company Economic Politician Ocean Profit

Author:Paul Watson

“When one questions [Dalai Lama's] political actions, it is worth remembering that he's the single most experienced politician on the planet at this moment.”

Moments Action Remember Political Planets Politician Lama Dalai Political Action

Author:Pico Iyer

“What drew me to politics in the first place was the fact that I wanted to have a place to take a stand and use my voice to express what I believed in. But I've no longer got any political aspirations. I feel that as a politician, fifty per cent of people would hate you before you even left the house.”

People Feels Firsts Facts Use Wanted Political Hate House Left Voice Politician Aspiration Fifty Cents Hate You

Author:Jon Bon Jovi

“Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.”

Source: The History of Freedom: Great Event

“In my political philosophy - which is definitely more socialist Democrat than centrist politician like Hillary Clinton - I think regulation for banks and those platforms that Bernie Sanders had are good for the whole of America.”

Thinking Philosophy Whole America Political Politician Clinton Democrat Regulation Platforms Socialist Political Philosophy

Author:David Cross

“I think it's important to understand that a cartoonist is not drawing for favourable reviews from politicians. What we're trying to do is capture the popular feeling of the time about a politician or a particular political issue. For that reason I think it sums up public attitudes that is very helpful to historians down the road.”

Thinking Trying Important Reason Feelings Political Attitude Issues Particular Politician Drawing Helpful Reviews Capture Historian Down The Road Cartoonist Political Issues

Author:Terry Mosher

“What we have done over the last 40 or 50 years is systematically attacked and weakened the parties, the political machines, the professionals, and insiders, and hacks, and all the tools that they use to get politicians to play well together. And with those gone, you get chaos.”

Years Wells Done Play Use Together Lasts Political Party Gone Politician Tools Machines Chaos Hacks Insiders

Author:Jonathan Rauch

“It is sad to witness the persistence in our society of the racism and xenophobia that seems to be a permanent part of our political culture. It is shameful to see politicians exploiting these human weaknesses in order to gain political power. It is most depressing of all to contemplate a future in which politicians who do this will continue to have influence over people's lives.”

“By the end of the documentary [ '13th'], you really understand what prison is, what the prison industrial complex is, where this whole Black Lives Matter movement comes from, the history of resistance, the history of how politicians have used criminality over the decades for a particular political gain. It's to give people an understanding of it so they can make their own decisions about how they want to be in the world.”

“I said that my father was not a politician. I, instead, think I am. But not in the sense of being interested in a political career - rather in the sense that I think it necessary to strive to build a certain India, the India I want.”

Thinking Want Said Political Certain Father Careers Politician India Strive

Author:Indira Gandhi

“Any time the negro becomes involved in mature political action, then the resistance of the politicians who benefit from the exploited political system as it now stands will be forced to put, exercise more violent action to deprive the negro of his mature political action.”

Action Political Involved Politician Exercise Benefits Violent Resistance Mature Political Systems Political Action

Author:Malcolm X

“Adam Clayton Powell's entire political career has to be looked at in the entire context of the American history and the history of, and the position of the Afro- American or negro in American history. [He] has done a remarkable job in fighting for rights of black people in this country. On the other hand, he probably hasn't done as much as he could or as much as he should because he is the most independent negro politician in this country.”

People Should Country Done Hands Jobs Political Fighting Black Careers Rights Position Politician Independent Remarkable Black People Adam American History Afros

Author:Malcolm X

“In my opinion, mature political action is the type of action that that involves a program of re-education and information that will enable the black people in the black community to see the fruits that they should be receiving from the politicians who are over them and, thereby, they are then able to determine whether or not the politician is really fulfilling his function.”