And enough for me that when my hand touched your shoulder, you leaned on me; and when you felt me slip away, you called my name.
Orson Scott CardRead
The problem with elections is that anybody who wants an office badly enough to run for it probably shouldn’t have it. And anybody who does not want an office badly enough to run for it probably shouldn’t have it, either. Government office should be received like a child’s Christmas present, with surprise and delight. Instead it is usually received like a diploma, an anticlimax that never seems worth the struggle to earn it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Elections can often be a flawed process, as the desire to hold office may indicate unfitness for the role.
This quote by Orson Scott Card critiques the nature of political elections, suggesting that those who are overly eager to attain power may lack the necessary qualities to govern responsibly. It highlights a paradox where the ideal candidate should approach public service with humility and surprise rather than ambition, comparing the ideal acquisition of such office to the innocent joy of receiving a child's Christmas present, rather than the anticlimactic feeling of obtaining a diploma after much effort.
Themes
ElectionsGovernmentPowerHumilityPolitics
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a political debate to highlight the qualifications of candidates.
More from Orson Scott Card
All quotes →The world is always a democracy in times of flux, and the man with the best voice will win.
Orson Scott CardRead
Never mind that the story had turned out to be lies and foolishness—there was always folks stupid enough to say, Where there's smoke there's fire, when the saying should have been, Where there's scandalous lies there's always malicious believers and spreaders-around, regardless of evidence.
Orson Scott CardRead
The lives of all people flow through time, and, regardless of how brutal one moment may be, how filled with grief or pain or fear, time flows through all lives equally.
Orson Scott CardRead
You take a step, then another. That's the journey. But to take a step with your eyes open is not a journey at all, it's a remaking of your own mind.
Orson Scott CardRead
I've had your tears with mine, and you've had mine with yours. I think that's more intimate even than a kiss.
Orson Scott CardRead
Similar quotes
Presidential ambition is a disease that can only be cured by embalming fluid.
John MccainRead
I will defend Europe; it is our civilisation which is at stake... I will work to rebuild ties between Europe and its citizens.
Emmanuel MacronRead
Political reform need not go hand in hand with economic liberalization.. I hold unconventional views about this.. I do not believe if you are a libertarian, full of diverse opinions, full of competing ideas in the market place, full of sound and fury, therefore you will succeed.
Lee Kuan YewRead
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism.
George WashingtonRead
Despotism often presents itself as the repairer of all the ills suffered, the support of just rights, defender of the oppressed, and founder of order.
Alexis De TocquevilleRead
If cars and buses were attacked daily by petrol bombs or stones for 16 months in Washington, could you imagine it would be tolerated? It would not, because in the name of democracy, to preserve democracy, steps would be taken.
Ariel SharonRead