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Quotes about politics

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It is doubly chimerical to build peace on economic foundations which, in turn, rest on the systematic cultivation of greed and envy, the very forces which drive men into conflict.
ESE. F. Schumacher1911–1977Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered (1973), p. 36.
- Economics
- War & Peace
People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.
Adam Smith1723–1790The Wealth of Nations (1776), Book I, Chapter X, Part II, p. 152.In context
- Business
- Economics
Most of all, anarchism is just a matter of having the courage to take the simple principles of common decency that we all live by, and to follow them through to their logical conclusions.
David Graeber1961–2020Are You An Anarchist? The Answer May Surprise You! (2000)
- Morality
A free Health Service is a triumphant example of the superiority of collective action and public initiative applied to a segment of society where commercial principles are seen at their worst.
Aneurin Bevan1897–1960In Place of Fear (1952), p. 85
- Economics
- Health
Most revolutionary movements are unable to practise among themselves what they preach. Strong leadership cults, factionalism, ‘ego-tripping’, backbiting are the rule rather than the exception.
SFShulamith Firestone1945–2012The Dialectic of Sex (1970), ch. 2, p. 39
The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan1927–2003‘Memorandum dated March 2003’ in Steven Weisman ed., “Daniel Patrick Moynihan: A Portrait in Letters of an American Visionary”
When the economy is in a depression, scarcity ceases to rule. Productive resources sit idle, so that it is possible to have more of some things without having less of others; free lunches are all around.
PKPaul Krugmanborn 1953“Depressions are Different”, in Robert M. Solow, ed. Economics for the Curious: Inside the Minds of 12 Nobel Laureates. 2014.
- Economics
We have fought for our land, we have fought for our sovereignty, small as we are we have won our independence and we are prepared to shed our blood…. So, Blair keep your England, and let me keep my Zimbabwe.
Robert Mugabe1924–2019Speech at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg (2 September 2002), quoted in John Battersby and Andrew Grice, “Anti-West anger at summit as Mugabe rounds on Blair”, The Independent, 3 September 2002, p. 1.
- Patriotism
And reality has a well-known liberal bias.
Stephen Colbertborn 1964White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner (April 2006)
- Clever Jabs
Everything is art. Everything is politics.
Ai Weiweiborn 1957Coonan, Clifford. “An Artist’s Struggle for Justice in China.” Independent, February 27, 2010.
- Art
No policy is worth anything outside of reality.
Charles de Gaulle1890–1970Televised speech, June 14 1960
A sincere diplomat is like dry water or wooden iron.
Joseph Stalin1878–1953“The Elections in St. Petersburg”, article in Sotsial-Demokrat No. 30 (January 1913)
- Clever Jabs
There is no one to talk to since Mahatma Gandhi died.
Vladimir Putinborn 1952Responding to a question “Former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called you a ‘pure democrat’. Do you consider yourself such?” June 4, 2007
- Democracy
“The people” are a rubber stamp for the crafty and sly.
Eldridge Cleaver1935–1998Soul on Ice (1968), “Domestic Law and International Order”
No nation is fit to sit in judgment upon any other nation.
Woodrow Wilson1856–1924Speech in New York City (20 April 1915)