The first task in teaching is to bring to consciousness what the students already believe by virtue of their personal experiences about themselves and society.
Paul WellstoneRead
Politics is not about power. Politics is not about money. Politics is not about winning for the sake of winning. Politics is about the improvement of people's lives.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Politics should focus on enhancing the quality of life for individuals rather than on power struggles or material gain.
Paul Wellstone's quote emphasizes that the essence of politics lies in its ability to create positive change in people's lives. It criticizes the notion that politics is merely a game of power, wealth, or victory, asserting instead that true political engagement should be rooted in serving and improving the community.
Themes
PoliticsImprovementPeopleLivesPowerMoney
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be referenced in a speech advocating for social policy reform.
More from Paul Wellstone
All quotes βA politics that is not sensitive to the concerns and circumstances of people's lives, a politics that does not speak to and include people, is an intellectually arrogant politics that deserves to fail.
Paul WellstoneRead
The future will not belong to those who sit on the sidelines. The future will not belong to the cynics. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Paul WellstoneRead
I think the future also will not belong to those who are cynical or those who stand on the sidelines
Paul WellstoneRead
What the poor, the weak, and the inarticulate desperately require is power, organization, and a sense of identity and purpose, not rarefied advice of political scientists.
Paul WellstoneRead
Our politics are our deepest form of expression: they mirror our past experiences and reflect our dreams and aspirations for the future.
Paul WellstoneRead
Similar quotes
Nothing could be more dangerous to the existence of this Republic than to introduce religion into politics
Robert Green IngersollRead
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Experience has taught us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession, and when the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
George WashingtonRead
No government can help the destinies of people who insist in putting sectional and class consciousness ahead of general weal.
Franklin D. RooseveltRead
This is supposed to be a participatory democracy and if we're not in there participating then the people that will manipulate and exploit the system will step in there.
George TakeiRead
But I can tell you what I believe: When tens of thousands of innocent souls have perished in Darfur-when 11 million children are without health insurance-when our colossal debt subjects our economic future to the whims of Asian bankers-no one can tell me that faith demands this Senate spend its time arguing over a handful of judges. No one with those priorities can use my faith to intimidate me.
John F. KerryRead
Liberals seem to assume that, if you don't believe in their particular political solutions, then you don't really care about the people that they claim to want to help.
Thomas SowellRead