Quotes on Politics

I cannot disagree with you that having something like 500 economists is extremely unhealthy. As you say, it is not conducive to independent, objective research. You and I know there has been censorship of the material published. Equally important, the location of the economists in the Federal Reserve has had a significant influence on the kind of research they do, biasing that research toward noncontroversial technical papers on method as opposed to substantive papers on policy and results

One has to be a lowbrow, a bit of a murderer, to be a politician, ready and willing to see people sacrificed, slaughtered, for the sake of an idea, whether a good one or a bad one.

Birtherism surely increased Americans' distrust of politics, though in ways that are hard to pin down. By contrast, when anti-vaxxers persuade parents not to vaccinate children, the result can be sickness and even death.

Western interests: imperialism, colonialism, exploitation, racism, and other negative -isms.

The more you read and observe about this Politics thing, the more you've got to admit that each party is worse than the other.

The communism of combined wealth and capital, the outgrown of overweening cupidity and selfishness which assiduously undermines the justice and integrity of free institutions, is not less dangerous than the communism of oppressed poverty and toil which, exasperated by injustice and discontent, attacks with wide disorder the citadel of misrule.

In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate-look to his character.

There are few ironclad rules of diplomacy but to one there is no exception. When an official reports that talks were useful, it can safely be concluded that nothing was accomplished.

If you ever injected truth into politics you have no politics.

Quite a lot has been written, including by me, about the effect of social media on politics, and in particular the way in which the algorithms built into Facebook and YouTube are more likely to spread angry, extremist and deliberately provocative political language.

When a man says he approves of something in principle, it means he hasn't the slightest intention of carrying it out in practice.

Let us reform our schools, and we shall find little reform needed in our prisons.

A friend in power is a friend lost.

The first duty of a man is to think for himself

The political machine triumphs because it is a united minority acting against a divided majority.

A typical vice of American politics is the avoidance of saying anything real on real issues.

I believe in an India of pluralism and diversity, not of religious bigotry and caste politics. I believe in an India that is secure in itself and confident of its place in the world, an India that is a proud example of tolerance, freedom and hope for the downtrodden.

While democracy must have its organizations and controls, its vital breath is individual liberty.

There is no private domain of a person's life that is not political, and there is no political issue that is not ultimately personal.

One of my greatest pleasures in my writing has come from the thought that perhaps my work might annoy someone of comfortably pretentious position. Then comes the realization that such people rarely read.

No man chooses evil because it's evil. He only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks.