Good Politics Quotes

Politics would be a helluva good business if it weren't for the goddamned people. ~ Richard M. Nixon

Recognize that good economics cannot be divorced from good politics: this is perhaps a reason why the field of economics was known as political economy. ~ Anonymous

I think people involved in politics make good actors. Acting and politics both involve fooling people. People like being fooled by actors. When you get right down to it, they probably like being fooled by politicians even more. A skillful actor will make you think, but a skillful politician will make you never have to think. ~ Donna Brazile

That is why everyone in politics, and we do it, must make sure that they do not depend on one single interest group. A good compromise is one where everybody makes a contribution. ~ Angela Merkel

I fear we must use bad science to accomplish good politics. ~ James L. Cambias

I strongly believe that crossing the aisle for the good of the American people is more important than party politics. ~ Gabrielle Giffords

Oprah's got good politics, she's got a good heart, and she'll have us all up Jazzercising at six in the morning. This cannot be a bad thing, and reading a book while we're Jazzercising. So America would be better off if Oprah were president. ~ Michael Moore

I read all these stories that I don't know anything about politics. But I must know something. I've had some good victories in Congress, and I've survived this town for four years. ~ Donald T. Regan

It is a fine game to play - the game of politics - and it is well worth waiting for a good hand before really plunging. ~ Winston Churchill

Never talk to a client about architecture. Talk to him about his children. That is simply good politics. he will not understand what you have to say about architecture most of the time. ~ Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe

Chicago is known for good steaks, expensive stores and beautiful architecture. Unfortunately, the Windy City also enjoys a reputation for corrupt politics, violent crime, and some of the strictest gun control laws anywhere in the country. ~ Bob Barr

I'm a big believer that good policy is good politics. And so, when it comes to making decisions on policy issues, what I endeavor to do is simply speak the truth. ~ Ted Cruz

It's people politics, people dynamics that make a show really good, whether it's 'Desperate Housewives' or 'Lost' or 'The Sopranos.' It's the people we've grown to love or otherwise. ~ Esai Morales

Constant conflict is actually often good politics, because the more you can inflame your supporters the more likely they are to show up at Election Day. And if they're more inflamed than the other side, even if the other side has more people agreeing with it, you'll win, because your crowd will show up. ~ William J. Clinton

I went into politics thinking that, if I made arguments in good faith, I'd get a hearing. It's a reasonable assumption, but it's wrong. In five and a half years in politics up north, no one really bothered to criticize my ideas, such as they were. It was never my message that was the issue. It was always the messenger. ~ Michael Ignatieff

It is the desire of the good people of the whole country that sectionalism as a factor in our politics should disappear. ~ Rutherford B. Hayes

I don't think that good politics ever excuse a bad song. ~ Greg Brown

In the end, Ted Kennedy was a politician, plain and simple. Yet he embodied how politics and public service can be successfully intertwined. You can't be a good public servant without being a good politician. Kennedy was both. ~ Chuck Todd

Compromise makes a good umbrella, but a poor roof; it is temporary expedient, often wise in party politics, almost sure to be unwise in statesmanship. ~ James Russell Lowell

The good news about me is that my friends and social network is entirely independent of politics. ~ Andrew Sullivan

Politics was put in front of me. I do politics because it's the vehicle for change and because I happen to be good at it ... I had this sort of calm fearlessness, that some would call foolishness. ~ David Mixner

Everyone wants to demagogue everyone else. That may be good politics, but it's awful policy. ~ Chris Christie

I never like to talk about my own politics, but whether you're left, right or center, the 2008 race was definitely good drama. ~ Brian K. Vaughan

Business is a useful tool in politics, but it's not enough. You need much more than to be a good businessman, to be a good politician. ~ Sebastian Pinera

Howard Dean is not the first politician to distort facts in his own interests. But many activists in the party he now leads are puzzled over what he thinks he is accomplishing politically. Is it good politics to contend that Iraq was better off under Saddam Hussein than even a flawed Islamic republic? ~ Robert Novak

I just use fashion as an excuse to talk about politics. Because I'm a fashion designer, it gives me a voice, which is really good. ~ Vivienne Westwood

Politics is a place of humble hopes and strangely modest requirements, where all are good who are not criminal and all are wise who are not ridiculously otherwise. ~ Frank Moore Colby

Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests. The right reason is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good, and to leave this nation better than we found it. ~ Sarah Palin

You have to take away some of tax breaks for the wealthy, and you have to cut back on some entitlements. Because, unless we do all of these things, it just doesn't work. And what's good theater and what's good politics isn't necessarily good economic policy. ~ Michael Bloomberg

My college, Fitzwilliam, was pretty good but unfashionable and I lived in digs so I was not part of the cloistered 'old college' environment, which frankly was a bit intimidating. But I worked hard and settled in by exploring politics and girls. ~ Vince Cable

The game has a cleanness. If you do a good job, the numbers say so. You don't have to ask anyone or play politics. You don't have to wait for the reviews. ~ Sandy Koufax

This aesthetic quality, then, is what politics is all about. It's authenticity that separates winners from losers, good politics from bad, and he-man leader-types from consultant-directed puppet-boys. ~ Thomas Frank

If I were in politics, I'd make both left and right sit down and make good decisions about national health. It's a huge problem, and it is something we all should be part of. ~ Helen McCrory

I had the good fortune to be able to take a course with Margaret Mead. I had a fabulous art course, where it was explained to me that nothing exists in a vacuum, that everything is a result of the period in which it's done - the economics, the sociology, the politics, all sewn together. That was a very important lesson. ~ Iris Apfel

Religious fanaticism is simply good politics in the middle-eastern countries. ~ James Aldridge

Good government is good politics. ~ Richard J. Daley

I am a teacher. It's how I define myself. A good teacher isn't someone who gives the answers out to their kids but is understanding of needs and challenges and gives tools to help other people succeed. That's the way I see myself, so whatever it is that I will do eventually after politics, it'll have to do a lot with teaching. ~ Justin Trudeau

I've always sort of thought that politics was a high and noble calling and a good thing to do. ~ Boris Johnson

Pro football gave me a good sense of perspective to enter politics: I'd already been booed, cheered, cut, sold, traded and hung in effigy. ~ Jack Kemp

My politics are wildly different from hers, but someone who has been good for women in politics, stamped her authority on European and world affairs, is Angela Merkel. ~ Nicola Sturgeon

We are what we are. Nothing more, nothing less. There is good and evil among every kind of people. It's the evil among us who rule now. ~ Anne Bishop

When times are tough and people are frustrated and angry and hurting and uncertain, the politics of constant conflict may be good, but what is good politics does not necessarily work in the real world. What works in the real world is cooperation. ~ William J. Clinton

Politics, according to the Social Doctrine of the Church, is one of the highest forms of charity, because it serves the common good. I cannot wash my hands, eh? We all have to give something! ~ Pope Francis

I haven't been in politics too long so that's a good thing. ~ Justin Amash

Once Canadians no longer believe that there is any good in politics, they no longer feel we can work together to solve the challenges we're facing, and that is my fundamental motivation: how do we work together as a country to solve the big challenges we're facing. ~ Justin Trudeau

A lot of the geeks in Silicon Valley will tell you they no longer believe in the ability of policymakers in Washington to accomplish anything. They don't understand why people end up in politics; they would do much more good for the world if they worked at Google or Facebook. ~ Evgeny Morozov

The 1986 tax act is sort of the unsung hero of the very good economic times we had for a long time. Of course, politics gums it all up again and preferences get put in. ~ George P. Shultz

Good economics is good politics. ~ Paul Keating

It's a good question, because a movie isn't good or bad based on its politics. It's usually good or bad for other reasons, though you might agree or disagree with its politics. ~ Roger Ebert

It's true that it's within the realm of cultural politics that young people tend to work through political issues, which I think is good, although it's not going to solve the problems. ~ Angela Davis

Contrary to the prevailing notion that good governance is bad politics, in reality good governance is good politics. A government should work keeping in mind the welfare of future generations, not the next election. ~ Narendra Modi

Nostalgia is a particular affliction of immigrant fiction, and it's led to a kind of sclerosis of the form. I hate nostalgia, and I feel it's good to be aware of the politics of these genres. ~ Neel Mukherjee

I've always viewed politics the following way: if you do a good job at the job you're doing, you'll have opportunities to do other things in the future. Maybe things you never envisioned. ~ Marco Rubio

Whenever anything extraordinary is done in American municipal politics, whether for good or for evil, you can trace it almost invariably to one man. The people do not do it. Neither do the 'gangs,' 'combines,' or political parties. ~ Lincoln Steffens

From my perspective, we as a nation need to make policy a priority and drive the politics as a result of good policy. ~ Tom Reed

A good Catholic meddles in politics, offering the best of himself, so that those who govern can govern. But what is the best that we can offer to those who govern? Prayer! ~ Pope Francis

When you get to No 10, you've climbed there on a little ladder called 'the status quo'. And when you are there, the status quo looks very good ~ Tony Benn

A lot of people feel that the realm of poetry and the realm of the lyric is personal feeling and should rise above politics, which, in fact, good poetry has never done. ~ Claudia Rankine

Is Bill Clinton so good at politics, or are other politicians so bad? ~ P. J. O'Rourke

Personal feelings don't make for good politics, legal decisions, or business deals. ~ Roger Zelazny

When times are tough, constant conflict may be good politics but in the real world, cooperation works better. After all, nobody's right all the time, and a broken clock is right twice a day. ~ William J. Clinton

I always feel that in politics, you have a bridle on. Well, I took the bridle off. And I tell you, it felt pretty good. ~ Ray Nagin

The good thing about the IMF is there is no European politics involved. ~ Mark Rutte

It's philanthropy, but it's good politics, too. Mighty good politics. The poor are some of the most grateful people in the world. George Washington Plunkett. ~ H.W. Brands

So that's my main role right now and really the politics also includes going out and communicating to the world why Apache is a good thing, why companies should be involved in it, and why individuals should be involved in it too. ~ Brian Behlendorf

When we accept bad art because it's good politics, we're killing the swan to feed the chickens. ~ Tom Robbins

Good politics starts with empathy, proceeds to analysis, then sets out values and establishes the vision, before getting to the nitty-gritty of policy solutions. ~ David Miliband

I think in politics, in Congress, you often do things that are Republican, or you do things because you're a Democrat. Sometimes that's good, obviously, and sometimes that's obviously bad. But in the news business, there's no such thing as Republican or Democratic news. News is news. ~ J. C. Watts

But very often in politics we have the experience called up from my father when someone was trying to help him in the campaign: I can take care of my enemies, may the Good Lord save me from my friends. ~ Robert Foster Bennett

Politics are about preserving relationships at the end of the day, and it has nothing to do with the greater good for humanity. It's just all about business. ~ Will.i.am

We have drained common sense out of our politics. The more we focus on tactics and games, the more good people check out and give up. ~ Deval Patrick

I've always thought that good politics follows from good economics and good policies. ~ George Osborne

We shall together open the doors of good politics and will work without indulging in political untouchability. ~ Narendra Modi

Good thing we've still got politics in Texas - finest form of free entertainment ever invented. ~ Molly Ivins

The Good Friday Agreement was an incredible breakthrough. But it's my view that the Hillsborough Agreement could see politics in the north come of age, and see us all move forwards on the basis of equality and partnership. ~ Martin McGuinness

There is no sea more dangerous than the ocean of practical politics none in which there is more need of good pilotage and of a single, unfaltering purpose when the waves rise high. ~ Thomas Huxley

No ruler can make a people good. ~ George R R Martin

Here's a very good rule of thumb in politics: losing begets losing. ~ John Podhoretz

We have to be bold in our national ambitions. First, we must win the fight against poverty within the next decade. Second, we must improve moral standards in government and society to provide a strong foundation for good governance. Third, we must change the character of our politics to promote fertile ground for reforms. ~ Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

While we remain a nation decisively shaped by religious faith, our politics and our culture are, in the main, less influenced by movements and arguments of an explicitly Christian character than they were even five years ago. I think this is a good thing - good for our political culture. ~ Jon Meacham

My politics are: I'm a trustbuster. Very focused. And yeah, I'm pro-efficiency. I want the most economic activity at the lowest price possible. It's good for everybody; it's not red or blue. ~ Travis Kalanick

I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph. ~ Margaret Thatcher

Therefore, the good of man must be the end of the science of politics. ~ Aristotle.

I'm not deeply ideologically driven. I believe in good center-right politics. ~ John Key

Whether you are on the Right or the Left, everyone can agree that there are a lot of outside influences in American politics that are not good for the system. There's just too much money. ~ Zach Galifianakis

Politics is a good thing! ~ Larry J. Sabato

Socialism is the doctrine that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that his life and his work do not belong to him, but belong to society, that the only justification of his existence is his service to society, and that society may dispose of him in any way it pleases for the sake of whatever it deems to be its own tribal, collective good. ~ Ayn Rand

I think I would make a good spy. I can sort of be a chameleon. People don't notice me very easily. I never get recognized. ~ Dana Delany

Oh, ants, my sisters, good old honeydew-seekers! From close up you are sticky and shiny and gristly; and your nymphs have parasitic red mites stuck to them. You are too intent upon your chewing and gathering to listen to me, but I tell you that despite my warm feelings I really do not like you, and I cannot feel sorry for you in any way because there are too many of you and you are not cute at all. You eat too much of my forests; you are a rebellious tribe, and I will destroy you; I will poison your nests with sweet-smelling traps. ~ William T. Vollmann

This could be your big ticket," he said. "You know what happens to you at art school?"
I shook my head.
"All that good natural technique you have? All that detail? They'll beat it right out of you. They'll be so threatened by it, they'll make you start throwing paint at the canvas like a monkey. By the time you graduate, the only thing you'll be able to do is teach art to high school kids."
Okay, I thought. I'm glad he's excited for me.
"On the plus side, you'll probably get laid a lot."
I gave him a nod and a quick thumbs-up. He patted me on the shoulder and then left me alone. ~ Steve Hamilton

Sensationalism sells: Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story. ~ Tiger Woods

I love comics. All I've been doing is reading every day, sitting in the house. Because I've not been feeling too good, so I've been reading and reading. ~ Jason Mewes

A loss leads to victory, being fired leads to a dream job..I find comfort in believing that good things can grow out of tragedy. ~ Ronda Rousey

Never awake me when you have good news to announce, because with good news nothing presses; but when you have bad news, arouse me immediately, for then there is not an instant to be lost. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

To me acting is a hobby and I'm inspired by it. And if I'm going to spend time doing something that I'm not really inspired to do, then why am I doing it? I don't know if that sounds sort of new agey or whatever, but it's true. I've been lucky enough to have a musical career that has gone pretty good and acting is something I have always wanted to do. ~ Justin Timberlake

It's a good idea to not get involved with somebody that you don't trust. That's for sure. ~ Madeline Zima

You just have to take these opportunities when they come along. They're not that frequent; you'll get a really good script, oh, maybe once a year if you're lucky. ~ Felicity Jones

When the oppressed, downtrodden, outraged exhort one another with the vengeful cunning of impotence: "let us be different from the evil, namely good! And he is good who does not outrage, who harms nobody, who does not attack, who does not requite, who leaves revenge to God, who keeps himself hidden as we do, who avoids evil and desires little from life, like us, the patient, humble, and just" -- this, listened to calmly and without previous bias, really amounts to no more than: "we weak ones are, after all, weak; it would be good if we did nothing for which we are not strong enough"; but this dry matter of fact, this prudence of the lowest order which even insects possess (popsing as dead, when in great danger, so as not to do "too much"), has, thanks to counterfeit and self-deception of impotence, clad itself in the ostentatious garb of the virtue of quiet, calm resignation, just as if the weakness of the weak -- that is to say, their essence, their effects, their sole ineluctable, irremovable reality - were a voluntary achievement, willed, chosen, a deed, a meritous act. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

I am quite content to come home and go to Farming, be a select Man, and owe no Man any Thing but good Will. There I can get a little health and teach my Boys to be Lawyers. ~ John Adams

To hearts which near each other move From evening close to morning light,The night is good; because, my love,They never say good-night. ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley