We are here to provide for all those who are weaker and hungrier, more battered and crippled than ourselves. That is our only certain good and great purpose on Earth, and if you ask me about those insoluble economic problems that may arise of the top are deprived of their initiative, I would answer, ‘To hell with them!’ The top is greedy and mean and will always find a way to take care of themselves. They always do. Michael Foot
It is not necessary that every time he rises he should give his famous imitation of a semi-house-trained polecat. Michael Foot, re Norman Tebbit
He’s passed from rising hope to elder statesman without any intervening period whatsoever. Michael Foot, re David Steel
You could invite the members of government to come, and they would. And you could find out they hardly knew ... that they didn’t know much more than you did. Christopher Hitchens: Hay Sessions 2010
They keep failing, you know ... They make such a mess of it, and then they come back and ask us to do it all again. Brian Clough, interview David Frost 1974
In politics nothing is accidental. If something happens, be assured it was planned this way. Franklin D Roosevelt
I am not a political animal. Diana, interview Martin Bashir, Panorama 20th November 1995
Politicians also have no leisure because they are always aiming at something beyond political life itself, power and glory, or happiness. Aristotle, 384-322 B.C.
Therefore the good of man must be the end of the science of politics. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics I
Man is by nature a political animal. Aristotle
Practical politics consists in ignoring facts. Henry Brooks Adams
Politics, as a practise, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organisation of hatreds. Henry Brooks Adams, 1838-1918, American man of letters
Politicians often believe that their world is the real one. Officials sometimes take a different view. Lord Rothschild, The Times 13th October 1974
The promises and panaceas that gleam like false teeth in the party manifestos. Lord Rothschild, Meditations of a Broomstick, 1977
Are ye, two vultures sick for battle,
Two scorpions under one wet stone.
Two bloodless wolves whose dry throats rattle,
Two crows perched on the murrained cattle,
Two vipers tangled into one. Percy Bysshe Shelley, Similes for Two Political Characters of 1819
Politics would be a hellova good business if it weren’t for the goddamn people. Richard Nixon
In the final account all party politics stink. Fanny Cradock, The Parkinson Show
It’s quite untrue ... The idea that there is anything disreputable in politics, I don’t think that’s true. A J P Taylor ibid.
A thick skin is a gift from God. Konrad Adenauer, 1876 - 1967, German First Chancellor, New York Times
The first requirement of a statesman is that he is dull. Dean Acheson, 1893-1971
Politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians. Charles de Gaulle
Since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken at his word. Charles de Gaulle
Politics is the chloroform of the Irish people, or, rather, the hashish. Oliver St John Gogarty, 1878-1957
Son, in politics you’ve got to learn that overnight chicken shit can turn to chicken salad. Lyndon Baines Johnson, to reporter who had questioned his embracing Richard Nixon
Politicians do not represent your interests. They represent big business and right now they’re representing the financial institutions. These people should not be encouraged. Mick Wallace, Irish Independent MP
Politics and the fate of mankind are formed by men without ideals and without greatness. Albert Camus
I agree with you that in politics the middle way is none at all. John Adams, 1735-1826, 2nd US President
The fundamental article of my political creed is that despotism, or unlimited sovereignty, or absolute power is the same in a majority of a popular assembly, an aristocratic council, an oligarchical junta, and a single emperor. Equally arbitrary, cruel, bloody, and in every respect diabolical. John Adams, The Political Writings of John Adams xxi
Under every stone lurks a politician. Aristophanes, Athenian comic dramatist
That politician tops his part,
Who readily can lie with art. John Gay, Fables 1727
A statesman is a politician who places himself at the service of a nation. A politician is a statesman who places the nation at his service. Georges Pompidou, Observer 30th December 1973
Every politician ought to sacrifice to the graces; and to join compliance with reason. Edmund Burke
Politics and the pulpit are terms that have little agreement. Edmund Burke
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. Plato
Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody. Franklin P Adams, 1881-1960
If you look through history there is no example of any free people giving up the right to govern itself. And yet what has happened to us in England is we have been betrayed. By Labour and Conservative politicians successively over the last forty years to the point where our parliament has become nothing more than a charade. And I will go on fighting. I will go on standing up because I believe that the best people to govern Britain are the British people themselves ... We’re doing this because we have been led up the garden path by our politicians. This is the fight-back. Nigel Farage, interview Alex Jones, Obama is a Dangerous Man
Vote for the man who promises least; he’ll be the least disappointing. Bernard Baruch, 1870-1965
A political leader must keep looking over his shoulder all the time to see if the boys are still there. If they aren’t still there, he’s no longer a political leader. Bernard Baruch, New York Times 21st June 1965
A politician is a man who will double-cross that bridge when he comes to it. Oscar Levant
History is past politics, and politics is present history. E A Freeman, Methods of Historical Study 1886
It will be a sad day for this country when a leading politician cannot spend his election expenses in any way he sees fit. Peter Cook, Secret Policeman’s Ball 1989
Firefly Appointed New Leader Of Freedonia. Duck Soup 1933 starring Groucho Marx & Harpo Marx & Chico Marx & Zeppo Marx & Margaret Dumont & Louis Calhern & Raquel Torres & Edgar Kennedy & Edmund Breese & Edwin Maxwell et al, director Leo McCarey, Rufus T Firefly
[sings] These are the laws of my administration: no-one’s allowed to smoke or tell a dirty joke. And whistling is forbidden. If chewing gum is chewed, the chewer is pursued ... This is the land of the free. The last man nearly ruined this place. He didn’t know what to do with it. If you think this country’s bad off now just wait till I get through with it. The country’s taxes must be fixed and I know what to do with it. If you think you’re paying too much now just wait till I get through with it. ibid.