QuoteProject
This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.
Will Rogers
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote compares Congress in session to a child playing with a hammer, implying chaos and potential danger.

Will Rogers uses this quote to express his frustration with Congress, suggesting that their actions often resemble the reckless and unplanned behavior of a child wielding a tool without understanding its purpose. This analogy highlights concerns about the effectiveness and responsibility of political leaders, implying that their decisions may lead to unforeseen negative consequences for the country.

Themes

CongressPoliticsChaosDecision MakingLeadership

In practice

Example use cases

During a debate about government dysfunction, one could use this quote to illustrate the perceived incompetence of lawmakers.

More from Will Rogers

I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.
Will RogersRead
People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing.
Will RogersRead
Why don't they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as well as prohibition did, in five years Americans would be the smartest race of people on Earth.
Will RogersRead
The 1928 Republican Convention opened with a prayer. If the Lord can see His way clear to bless the Republican Party the way it's been carrying on, then the rest of us ought to get it without even asking.
Will RogersRead
Let advertisers spend the same amount of money improving their product that they do on advertising and they wouldn't have to advertise it.
Will RogersRead
The man with the best job in the country is the vice-president. All he has to do is get up every morning and say, 'How is the president?'
Will RogersRead

Similar quotes

Politics is not predictions and politics is not observations. Politics is what we do. Politics is what we do, politics is what we create, by what we work for, by what we hope for and what we dare to imagine.
Paul WellstoneRead
Our economic problems worry me much less than our political solutions, which have a far worse track record.
Thomas SowellRead
Romania, which had the worst dictator in Eastern Europe, Ceausescu, he was a darling of the West. The United States and Britain loved him. He was supported until the last minute.
Noam ChomskyRead
Arresting opposition leaders and restricting civil society will not stop people from protesting, but it can create leaderless movements that leave no one with whom the government can mediate a peaceful way forward.
Tom MalinowskiRead
I think that it's a vital moment now for Russian democracy to convince people that it's only our actions, our joined actions and protests that could force Kremlin to reconsider its plans to abolish presidential elections.
Garry KasparovRead
While democracy must have its organization and controls, its vital breath is individual liberty.
Charles Evans HughesRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.