Politics

Explore 256 quotes about Politics

To be conservative, then, is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss.

Michael Oakeshott

On Being Conservative

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Topic

Conservatism Politics

Author

Michael Oakeshott

Source

On Being Conservative

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1962 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Oakeshott, Michael. "On Being Conservative. " Rationalism in Politics and Other Essays. Methuen, 1962.

The priest persuades humble people to endure their hard lot; the politician urges them to rebel against it; and the scientist thinks of a method that does away with the hard lot altogether.

Max Perutz

More information about this quote

Topic

Scientific progress Science Religion Politics

Author

Max Perutz

Source

Is Science Necessary?

Medium

Essay

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Perutz, Max. Is Science Necessary? Essays on Science and Scientists. E.P. Dutton, 1989.

A political leader must keep looking over his shoulder all the time to see if the boys are still there. If they aren't still there, he's no longer a political leader.

Bernard Baruch

Quoted in The New York Times

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Topic

Politicians Political leadership Politics

Speaker

Bernard Baruch

Source

The New York Times

Medium

Obiturary Newspaper

Language

English

Time

20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Baruch, Bernard M. Quoted in "Bernard Baruch, Financier, Dead." The New York Times, 21 June 1965.

We are the change that we seek.

Barack Obama

More information about this quote

Topic

Political progress Progress Change Politics

Speaker

Barack Obama

Source

Speeches of Barack Obama

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

2008 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Obama, Barack. Senator Barack Obama’s speech to supporters after the nominating contests. 5 Feb. 2008, Chicago, IL, USA.

The chances are that a man cannot get into congress now without resorting to arts and means that should render him unfit to go there.

Mark Twain

The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today

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Topic

Venality of politicians Political corruption Corruption American politics Politics

Speaker

Philip Sterling

Author

Mark Twain

Source

The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1873 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Twain, Mark and Charles Dudley Warner. The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1873, ch. 50.

Current Citation

Twain, Mark and Charles Dudley Warner. "The Gilded Age." Mark Twain: The Gilded Age and Later Novels, edited by Hamlin Hill. Library of America, 2002, ch. 50.

Our original guiding stars are struggle and hope.

Pablo Neruda

More information about this quote

Topic

Hope Fighting for justice Justice Progress Politics

Speaker

Pablo Neruda

Source

Toward the Splendid City (Speech)

Medium

Nobel Prize Lecture Speech

Language

Spanish

Time

1971 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Neruda, Pablo. "Towards the Splendid City." Acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize in Literature. 13 Dec. 1971, Stockholm, Sweden.

Current Citation

Neruda, Pablo. "Towards the Splendid City." Nobel Lectures in Literature, 1968-1980. World Scientific Publishing Co., 2007.

All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable.

Henry David Thoreau

The Relation of the Individual to the State

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Topic

Revolution Oppression Resisting authority Political theory Politics

Author

Henry David Thoreau

Source

The Relation of the Individual to the State

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Thoreau, Henry. "The Relation of the Individual to the State." 26 Jan. 1848, Concord Lyceum, Concord, MA, USA.

Current Citation

Thoreau, Henry. "Civil Disobedience." Walden and Civil Disobedience. Signet, 2012.

Do not wait for me to do something for your rights. It's your world and you can change it.

Malala Yousafzai

More information about this quote

Topic

Changing the world Taking action Activism Progress Politics

Speaker

Malala Yousafzai

Source

Glamour Magazine

Medium

Interview

Language

English

Time

2013 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Yousafzai, Malala. "Malala Yousafzai: The Girls' Hero." Glamour Magazine, 30 Oct. 2013.

You think I have time to ask a man why he givin' me money or where he gets his money from? I'll take any motherfucker's money if he givin' it away!

Watch Season 4 of The Wire at Amazon Watch Season 4 of The Wire at Amazon

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Topic

Money in politics Political campaigns Politics

Speaker

Clay Davis

Actor

Isiah Whitlock Jr.

Source

The Wire

Medium

TV program

Genre

Crime (TV) Drama (TV) Crime Drama

Language

English

Time

2006 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

"Soft Eyes." The Wire, written David Simon and David Mills and Ed Burns, directed by Christine Moore, season 4, episode 2, Blown Deadline Productions and Home Box Office, 2006.

Tolerance is the alpha and omega of a new world order.

Mikhail Gorbachev

More information about this quote

Topic

New world order Tolerance Cold War International politics Politics

Speaker

Mikhail Gorbachev

Source

Speeches of Mikhail Gorbachev

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1990 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Gorbachev, Mikhail. "The Rule of Law: Our New Frontier." 5 Sept. 1990, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA. Speech.

The country is governed for the richest, for the corporations, the bankers, the land speculators, and for the exploiters of labour.

Helen Keller

More information about this quote

Topic

Political corruption Class conflict Politics

Author

Helen Keller

Source

Letters of Helen Keller

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1911 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Keller, Helen. Helen Keller: Selected Writings, edited by Kim E. Nielsen. New York University Press, 2005, pt. 2, ch. 16. Originally from Letter to an English-Woman-Suffragist published in The Manchester (England) Advertiser, 3 Mar. 1911.

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.

James Baldwin

More information about this quote

Topic

Fighting for justice Political courage Courage Progress Politics

Author

James Baldwin

Source

As Much Truth As One Can Bear The New York Times

Medium

Essay Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1962 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Baldwin, James. "As Much Truth As One Can Bear." The New York Times, 14 Jan. 1962.

The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government. From the protection of different and unequal faculties of acquiring property, the possession of different degrees and kinds of property immediately results.

James Madison

Federalist 10

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More information about this quote

Topic

Property rights Political theory Politics

Author

James Madison

Source

Federalist 10 The Federalist Papers

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1787 1780s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Madison, James [published as Publius]. "Federalist No. 10: The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection." Daily Advertiser, 22 Nov. 1787.

Current Citation

Madison, James. "No. 10: An extensive republic a remedy for mischiefs of faction.--Madison." The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States, edited by Robert Scigliano. The Modern Library, 2001.

Sometimes we have to do the work even though we don't yet see a glimmer on the horizon that it's actually going to be possible.

Angela Davis

More information about this quote

Topic

Political progress Perseverance Activism Politics

Author

Angela Davis

Source

Ferguson Reminds Us of the Importance of a Global Context

Medium

Interview

Language

English

Time

2014 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Davis, Angela. "Ferguson Reminds Us of the Importance of a Global Context." Interviewed by Frank Barat. Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement. Haymarket Books, 2016.

Among the most formidable of the obstacles which the new Constitution will have to encounter may readily be distinguished the obvious interest of a certain class of men in every State to resist all changes which may hazard a diminution of the power, emolument, and consequence of the offices they hold under the State establishments.

Alexander Hamilton

Federalist 1

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Topic

Entrenched interests Resistance to change Politics

Author

Alexander Hamilton

Source

Federalist 1 The Federalist Papers

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1787 1780s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Hamilton, Alexander [published as Publius]. "Federalist No. 1: General Introduction." Independent Journal, 27 Oct. 1787.

Current Citation

Hamilton, Alexander. "No. I: Deliberation on a new constitution--Hamilton." The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States, edited by Robert Scigliano. The Modern Library, 2001.

Each department should have a will of its own; and consequently should be so constituted that the members of each should have as little agency as possible in the appointment of the members of the others.

James Madison

Federalist 51

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More information about this quote

Topic

Separation of powers Political theory Politics

Author

James Madison

Source

Federalist 51 The Federalist Papers

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1788 1780s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Madison, James [published as Publius]. "Federalist No. 51, The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments." New York Packet, 8 Feb. 1788.

Current Citation

Madison, James. "No. 51: How to maintain: make the parts check each other. Also, a federal system divides power further.--Madison (or Hamilton)." The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States, edited by Robert Scigliano. The Modern Library, 2001.

I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience.

Ronald Reagan

1984 Presidential Debates

More information about this quote

Topic

American politics Political campaigns Politics

Speaker

Ronald Reagan

Source

1984 Presidential Debates Presidential debates

Medium

Political debate

Statement Type

Political joke Joke

Language

English

Time

1984 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Reagan, Ronald. "The Second Reagan-Mondale Presidential Debate." 21 Oct. 1984, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, MO, USA. Presidential debate.

Politics in the middle of things that concern the imagination are like a pistol-shot in the middle of a concert.

Stendhal

The Red and the Black

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Topic

Politics and culture Politics

Speaker

Julien Sorel

Author

Stendhal

Source

The Red and the Black

Medium

Novel

Language

French

Time

1830 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Stendhal. Le Rouge et le Noir: Chronique du XIXe siècle [The Red and the Black: A Chronicle of the 19th Century]. Vol. 2, Paris: A. Levasseur, c. 1830, ch. 22.

Current Citation

Stendhal. The Red and the Black, translated by Catherine Slater. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 2, ch. 22.

Jessie's right! Authority should derive from the consent of the governed, not from threat of force!

Toy Story 3

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Topic

Political theory Politics

Speaker

Barbie

Actor

Jodi Benson

Source

Toy Story 3

Medium

Film

Genre

Animation (film) Animation

Language

English

Time

2010 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Toy Story 3. Directed by Lee Unkrich. Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios, 2010.

We are here not because we are law-breakers. We are here in our efforts to become law-makers.

Emmeline Pankhurst

Read My Own Story at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Protest Political progress Progress Politics

Author

Emmeline Pankhurst

Source

My Own Story

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1914 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pankhurst, Emmeline. My Own Story. Hearsts's International Library, 1914.

Current Citation

Pankhurst, Emmeline. My Own Story. Vintage Classics, 2018.