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Politicians Quotes and Quotations
 This is the first convention of the space age - where a candidate can promise the moon and mean it.  90% of the politicians give the other 10% a bad reputation. A politician is a person with whose politics you don't agree; if you agree with him, he is a statesman. All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure. Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river. Probably the most distinctive characteristic of the successful politician is selective cowardice. Reagan won because he ran against Jimmy Carter. Had he run unopposed he would have lost. Successful democratic politicians are insecure and intimidated men. They advance politically only as they placate, appease, bribe, seduce, bamboozle or otherwise manage to manipulate the demanding and threatening elements in their constituencies. The British House of Lords is the British Outer Mongolia for retired politicians. The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull. This is not always easy to achieve. I have said what I meant and meant what I said. I have not done as well as I should like to have done, but I have done my best, frankly and forth-rightly; no man can do more, and you are entitled to no less. A Conservative is a fellow who is standing athwart history yelling 'Stop!' Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his friends for his political life. I love this job. I love it to death. I love every waking minute of it. Now that all the members of the press are so delighted I lost, I'd like to make a statement. As I leave you I want you to know -just think how much you'll be missing. You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference. I gave 'em a sword. And they stuck it in, and they twisted it with relish. And I guess if I had been in their position, I'd have done the same. I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day. If we are strong, our strength will speak for itself. If we are weak, words will be no help. Our Congressmen are the finest body of men money can buy. A politician . . . one that would circumvent God. I shall never ask, never refuse, nor ever resign an office. I'm not a member of any organized party, I'm a Democrat. A disposition to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman. Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on office, a rottenness begins in his conduct. Whin a man gets to be my age, he ducks political meetin's, an' reads th' papers an' weighs th' ividence an' th' argymints - pro-argymints an' con-argymints, an' makes up his mind ca'mly, an' votes th' Dimmycratic Ticket. He knows nothing; he thinks he knows everything - that clearly points to a political career. A councillor ought not to sleep the whole night through - a man to whom the populace is entrusted, and who has many responsibilities. - Homer One of the luxuries of a politican's life is that you see yourself as others see you. If I believe in something, I will fight for it with all I have. But I do not demand all or nothing. I would rather get something than nothing. Professional liberals want the fiery debate. They glory in defeat. The hardest job for a politician today is to have the courage to be a moderate. It's easy to take an extreme position. A Liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel. You do not know, you cannot know, the difficulty of the life of a politician. It means every minute of the day or night, every ounce of your energy. There is no rest, no relaxation. Enjoyment? A politician does not know the meaning of the word. A new Member requires the experience of his first session in the House to teach him how to hang up his overcoat and take his seat in a manner befitting a gentlemen. A politician divides mankind into two classes: tools and enemies. An honest politician is one who when he is bought will stay bought. The art of statesmanship is to foresee the inevitable and to expedite its occurrence. Since a politician never believes what he says, he is surprised when others believe him. Power is a drug on which the politicians are hooked. They buy it from the voters, using the voters' own money. a politician is an arse upon which everyone has sat except a man. A ginooine statesman should be on his guard, if he must hev beliefs, not to b'lieve 'em too hard. More men have been elected between Sundown and Sunup than ever were elected between Sunup and Sundown. Macdonald's Law: Never write a letter if you can help it, and never destroy one. He is a pragmatist. He is not right wing, nor left wing, nor any wing. Politicians make good company for a while just as children do - their self-enjoyment is contagious. But they soon exhaust their favourite subjects -themselves. Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion. The most important office is that of private citizen. I'm not an old, experienced hand at politics. But I am now seasoned enough to have learned that the hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning. Never retract, never explain, never apologize - get the thing done and let them howl. A Conservative is a man who will not look at the new moon, out of respect for that ancient institution, the old one. 
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