Politics 

1. Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds.
   Henry Brooks Adams 1838–1918 American historian: The Education of Henry Adams (1907) ch. 1
2. I agree with you that in politics the middle way is none at all.
   John Adams 1735–1826 American Federalist statesman, 2nd President 1797–1801: letter to Horatio Gates, 23 March 1776
3. Not to be a republican at twenty is proof of want of heart; to be one at thirty is proof of want of head.
   often used in the form ‘Not to be a socialist…’
   Anonymous: adopted by Clemenceau, and attributed by him to François Guizot (1787–1874)
4. Therefore, the good of man must be the end [i.e. objective] of the science of politics.
   Aristotle 384–322 bc Greek philosopher: Nicomachean Ethics bk. 1, 1094b 6–7
5. Man is by nature a political animal.
   Aristotle 384–322 bc Greek philosopher: Politics bk. 1, 1253a 2–3
6. Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it wrongly and applying unsuitable remedies.
   Ernest Benn 1875–1954 English publisher: attributed, Powell Spring What Is Truth (1944); often later associated with the American film comedian Groucho Marx (1890–1977)
7. Politics is the art of the possible.
   Otto von Bismarck 1815–98 German statesman: in conversation with Meyer von Waldeck, 11 August 1867; see Butler, Galbraith, Medawar
8. A statesman…must wait until he hears the steps of God sounding through events; then leap up and grasp the hem of his garment.
   Otto von Bismarck 1815–98 German statesman: A. J. P. Taylor Bismarck (1955)
9. The liberals can understand everything but people who don't understand them.
   Lenny Bruce 1925–66 American comedian: John Cohen (ed.) The Essential Lenny Bruce (1967)
10. In politics, there is no use looking beyond the next fortnight.
    Joseph Chamberlain 1836–1914 British Liberal politician: letter from A. J. Balfour to 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, 24 March 1886; A. J. Balfour Chapters of Autobiography (1930) ch. 16; see Wilson
11. The art of politics is learning to walk with your back to the wall, your elbows high, and a smile on your face. It's a survival game played under the glare of lights.
    Jean Chrétien 1934–  Canadian Liberal statesman: Straight from the Heart (1985)
12. Politics are almost as exciting as war and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics—many times.
    Winston Churchill 1874–1965 British Conservative statesman, Prime Minister 1940–5, 1951–5: attributed
13. International life is right-wing, like nature. The social contract is left-wing, like humanity.
    Régis Debray 1940–  French Marxist theorist: Charles de Gaulle (1994)
14. Politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.
    replying to Attlee's remark that ‘De Gaulle is a very good soldier and a very bad politician’
    Charles de Gaulle 1890–1970 French soldier and statesman, President of France 1959–69: Clement Attlee A Prime Minister Remembers (1961) ch. 4; see Clemenceau
15. Finality is not the language of politics.
    Benjamin Disraeli 1804–81 British Tory statesman and novelist; Prime Minister 1868, 1874–80: speech, House of Commons, 28 February 1859
16. ‘Two nations; between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other's habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets; who are formed by a different breeding, are fed by a different food, are ordered by different manners, and are not governed by the same laws.’ ‘You speak of—’ said Egremont, hesitatingly, ‘the rich and the poor.’
    Benjamin Disraeli 1804–81 British Tory statesman and novelist; Prime Minister 1868, 1874–80: Sybil (1845) bk. 2, ch. 5; see Foster
17. There is an invisible hand in politics that operates in the opposite direction to the invisible hand in the market. In politics, individuals who seek to promote only the public good are led by an invisible hand to promote special interests that it was no part of their intention to promote.
    Milton Friedman 1912–2006 American economist: Bright Promises, Dismal Performance: An Economist's Protest (1983); see Smith
18. I never dared be radical when young
    For fear it would make me conservative when old.
    
     
    Robert Frost 1874–1963 American poet: ‘Precaution’ (1936)
19. Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.
    J. K. Galbraith 1908–2006 Canadian-born American economist: speech to President Kennedy, 2 March 1962; see Bismarck
20. The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open.
    Günter Grass 1927–2015 German novelist, poet, and dramatist: slogan coined in 1965, Terence Prittie Willie Brandt: portrait of a statesman (1974)
21. The personal is political.
    Carol Hanisch 1945–  American feminist: 1970s feminist slogan
22. Healey's first law of politics: when you're in a hole, stop digging.
    Denis Healey 1917–2015 British Labour politician: attributed
23. Who? Whom?
    definition of political science, meaning ‘Who will outstrip whom?’
    Lenin 1870–1924 Russian revolutionary: in Polnoe Sobranie Sochinenii vol. 44 (1970) 17 October 1921 and elsewhere
24. Politics is a marathon, not a sprint.
    Ken Livingstone 1945–  British Labour politician: in New Statesman 10 October 1997
25. He who wishes to see what is to come should observe what has already happened, because all the affairs of the world, in every age, have their individual counterparts in ancient times.
    Niccolò Machiavelli 1469–1527 Italian political philosopher and Florentine statesman: Discourse upon the First Ten Books of Livy (written 1513–17) bk. 3, ch. 43 (tr. Allan Gilbert)
26. The opposition of events.
    on his biggest problem; popularly quoted as, ‘Events, dear boy. Events’
    Harold Macmillan 1894–1986 British Conservative statesman; Prime Minister, 1957–63: David Dilks The Office of Prime Minister in Twentieth Century Britain (1993)
27. Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.
    Mao Zedong 1893–1976 Chinese statesman; de facto leader of the Communist Party: lecture, 1938
28. All reactionaries are paper tigers. In appearance, the reactionaries are terrifying, but in reality they are not so powerful. From a long-term point of view, it is not the reactionaries but the people who are really powerful.
    Mao Zedong 1893–1976 Chinese statesman; de facto leader of the Communist Party: interview with Anne Louise Strong, August 1946
29. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. In fact, it's the only thing that ever has.
    Margaret Mead 1901–78 American anthropologist: attributed; Mary Bowman-Kruhm Margaret Mead: a biography (2003)
30. In the area of politics our major policy obligation is not to mistake slogans for solutions.
    Ed Murrow 1908–65 American broadcaster and journalist: broadcast, 3 April 1951
31. In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible.
    George Orwell 1903–50 English novelist: Shooting an Elephant (1950) ‘Politics and the English Language’
32. Political language…is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
    George Orwell 1903–50 English novelist: Shooting an Elephant (1950) ‘Politics and the English Language’
33. Men enter local politics solely as a result of being unhappily married.
    C. Northcote Parkinson 1909–93 English writer: Parkinson's Law (1958)
34. Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.
    Ronald Reagan 1911–2004 American Republican statesman; 40th President 1981–9: at a conference in Los Angeles, 2 March 1977
35. What is morally wrong cannot be politically right.
    Donald Soper 1903–98 British Methodist minister: speech, House of Lords, 1966
36. A week is a long time in politics.
    probably first said at the time of the 1964 sterling crisis
    Harold Wilson 1916–95 British Labour statesman, Prime Minister 1964–70, 1974–6: Nigel Rees Sayings of the Century (1984); see Chamberlain