Gore Vidal Quotes

Living in Washington, you can't take politics too seriously. I draw the line at honesty. I have no time for political hacks who say things they don't believe because they get paid to.

You can be a namby-pamby leftie, a gun-toting neo-con, or a soft, indecisive moderate. I really don't care. Just don't lie to me.

I think politicians who suggest they are uninterested in the support of newspapers are not being straight with people.

I don't think people maybe think that the government does tell them the truth. I think they expect politicians who are going to tell them one thing and then when they get in office do something else.

Weary of wily politicians who say one thing and do another, voters and advocacy groups insist presidential contenders commit to the cause du jour in writing, but candidates are foolish to comply. Words matter.

To be honest, I find most politicians very untrustworthy. When I listen to them talking - or rather, lying - I just feel there are very few politicians with integrity, so I never know who to bat for.

Sure, we want to know what a president believes in... but that doesn't always mean he should tell us.

Since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken at his word.

The hardest thing to do in politics is campaign as someone you aren't. People can spot an imposter from a mile away.

Everybody in politics writes a book and the books are dull—almost as dull as the people who wrote them.

I think really that you shouldn't run as a conservative if you're not.

I wasn't out there pretending I was a conservative Democrat. I'm somebody who has talked a lot about and has done the act of running as who you are.

Politicians... say what they say - you might get every now and again a genuine one, innit? But I think people, like, as a whole make the difference.

Regardless of how people love to deride politicians, democracy is not an easy gig. My decisions, views and heartfelt principles are dismissed by so many as careerist, opportunist or attention-seeking.

Both parties act in their political self-interest. Indeed, that's the purpose of a political party. But unlike Democrats, at least Republicans are honest about it.

I think if there's anything that's important today, it's credibility with the voter, because the voter is tired of being sold a bill of goods.

If Rob Ford decided he wanted to run for the Liberal Party in 2015, we'd say, 'No, sorry, the way you approach things, the way you govern, the way you behave is not suitable to the kind of Liberal team we want to build.'

In politics, there's a kind of literal-mindedness. It's what you say, not what you mean, and you have to say only what you mean.

I reject the cynical view that politics is a dirty business.

I think that politics could be a positive thing. My beef is that people focus on the personal aspect of a politician too much. They should focus on the results.

Politicians must set their aims for the high ground and according to our various leanings, Democratic, Republican, Independent, we will follow. Politicians must be told if they continue to sink into the mud of obscenity, they will proceed alone.

We have a media that presents every politician as being as bad as the next. There is no distinguishing between one good idea or another; no explanation of why constitutional change should be uppermost in the minds of the people I represent.

It is hard for any one to be an honest politician who is not born and bred a Dissenter.

The vast majority of politicians think they are functioning on high principle.

I'm a politician. What I say is not holy writ.