Edward Heath Quotes

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

I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.

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.

I think most politicians could take a dodgeball in the face.

In the old days, the media is who held people accountable when they lied in politics. That isn't happening anymore.

There is this concept of politics as a dirty game. It's a difficult game, but it doesn't have to be dirty. I think this is what we need to bring to politics. I think politics around the world has very often been captured by big interests - 'lobbies' they call them in the States.

I think Barack Obama has brought a new level of ethical standards to Washington. Has he changed some basic hard-knuckle politics? No. You need hard-knuckle politics to succeed.

I can't get inside the head of a politician today.

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 did not resign from politics because of Bofors. I resigned because I do not know how to play petty politics. I did not know back then and I don't know now either.

There is nothing more frightening to a political satirist than an honest administration.

If you will refrain from telling any lies about the Republican Party, I'll promise not to tell the truth about the Democrats.

You can't adopt politics as a profession and remain honest.

I don't think that political history is full of a whole lot of tremendously honest people. I have never found any fault about that as far as Mr. Trump is concerned in my relationship with him.

If you hang around political talkers or strategists much, you're likely to hear a lot about authenticity. This is supposed to be the golden currency which we all look for in our leaders.

The politician has no more use for pride than Falstaff had for honour.

Politics is a profession as certainly as base ball.... The only difference is that base ball is on the square; no base ball hero claims he is working in the interest of the crowd in the bleachers.

Those who would treat politics and morality apart will never understand the one or the other.

Politics is not an end, but a means. It is not a product, but a process. It is the art of government. Like other values it has its counterfeits. So much emphasis has been placed upon the false that the significance of the true has been obscured and politics has come to convey the meaning of crafty and cunning selfishness, instead of candid and sincere service.

I am not a politician. A politician is someone who does things to get elected. He's a guy who says things to please the public, that he thinks the public wants to hear, and his story changes with every passing day. I want to be elected, but I am not going to say a damn thing for your benefit, or that person's benefit out there on the street, or anybody's

The only way to have clean politics is to pay party district and city leaders as business executives.

Politicians are not the most reflective people in the world.

A lot of young people don't have a lot of faith in politicians. You can't depend on what they say. They talk in circles. They don't speak the kind of language that has truth to them. I'm speaking differently.

For much of my career I had no authentic political voice. I had been campaigning all over the country not to change the world or shake up my audiences but to please the roomful of people to whom I was speaking... As a result, my words rarely had the ring of truth to the nonpolitical observer.

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.