The political is replacing the metaphysical as the characteristic mode of grasping reality.

Spare me the sight of this thankless breed, these politicians who cringe for favors from a screaming mob and do not care what harm they do their friends, providing they can please a crowd!

Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.

I could not be leading a religious life unless I identified myself with the whole of mankind, and that I could not do unless I took part in politics.

A newly elected representative quickly discovers that his job in government-aside from making new laws-is to act as a broker, middleman, special pleader and finagler.

Because the slums are no longer centers of powerful political organizations, the politicians need not really care about their inhabitants.

Probably the most distinctive characteristic of the successful politician is selective cowardice.

A 'penchant for telling the truth' can cripple a candidates chances faster than being caught in flagrante delicto with the governor's wife.

Genuine politics-politics worthy of the name, and the only politics I am willing to devote myself to-is simply a matter of serving those around us: serving the community, and serving those who will come after us.

When we get sick, we want an uncommon doctor. If we have a construction job, we want an uncommon engineer. When we get into a war, we dreadfully want an uncommon admiral and an uncommon general. Only when we get into politics are we content with the common man.