QuoteProject
In the year 2025, the best men don't run for president, they run for their lives. . . .
Stephen King
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote suggests that honorable individuals avoid political leadership due to the corruption and danger involved.

Stephen King's quote implies that the most capable and admirable people are reluctant to seek positions of power, particularly in politics, as they understand the inherent risks and ethical compromises that such roles entail. Rather than running for office, they prioritize their safety and integrity over ambition, reflecting a disillusionment with the political system and a desire to protect themselves from its potential harms.

Themes

PoliticsLeadershipIntegrityDisillusionmentAmbition

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about political candidates, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of integrity over ambition.

More from Stephen King

Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.
Stephen KingRead
Eddie discovered one of his childhood's great truths. Grownups are the real monsters, he thought.
Stephen KingRead
Hairstyles change, and skirt lengths, and slang, but high school administrations? Never.
Stephen KingRead
Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.
Stephen KingRead
That's the day's business. Thinking. Thinking and isolation, because it doesn't matter if you pass the time of day with someone or not; in the end, you're alone. He seemed to have put in as many miles in his brain as he had with his feet. The thoughts kept coming and there was no way to deny them.
Stephen KingRead
Late last night and the night before, tommyknockers, tommyknockers knocking on my door. I wanna go out, don't know if I can 'cuz I'm so afraid of the tommyknocker man.
Stephen KingRead

Similar quotes

Corruption, the most infallible symptom of constitutional liberty.
Edward GibbonRead
A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar.
H. L. MenckenRead
If all power is in the people, if there is no higher law than their will, and if by counting their votes, their will may be ascertained - then the people may entrust all their power to anyone, and the power of the pretender and the usurper is then legitimate. It is not to be challenged since it came originally from the sovereign people.
Walter LippmannRead
I don't think we can have democracies that work where most of the people are not benefiting economically, where most of the people are worried about their job security.
Joseph StiglitzRead
The statesman who yields to war fever must realise that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.
Winston ChurchillRead
When a new source of taxation is found it never means, in practice, that the old source is abandoned. It merely means that the politicians have two ways of milking the taxpayer where they had one before.
H. L. MenckenRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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