Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero Quotes

I could never go into politics, because I'm far too impatient and I'd want to be a dictator, albeit a benevolent one... I would hope.

Reading a teleprompter is not what makes you presidential. It's your actions that you take, and it's democracy.

I think politicians do great things in the world, but I don't think they're the only ones who can. I don't like all the rhetoric and the finger pointing.

But despite this breathtaking pace, I believe in the capacity of our democracy to meet these challenges.

It's not really the job of a public servant to inspire, but to get the job that the people demand done. The Democrats think that if they have hope and are inspired, things will get better, but they actually won't.

I would not want to live in a country that would have me as a leader in any sort of political bent.

Everybody has an idea of the kind of society they'd like to live in, and I would like to live in one where our senior politicians were spirited and original and possibly even good at what they do.

I always tell people this: to be a savvy politician or a good head of state and to be charitable are not mutually exclusive things.

Canadians want to elect good people to be their voice in Ottawa.

I don't want to run for governor, but I don't think anyone should put public service out of the question because that's not what a good citizen does.

Tony Rezko and Bill Ayers should lead the Democratic Party. They are the only Democrats with any convictions.

I never doubted that I would be a good mayor. I never did.

We have to be bold in our national ambitions. First, we must win the fight against poverty within the next decade. Second, we must improve moral standards in government and society to provide a strong foundation for good governance. Third, we must change the character of our politics to promote fertile ground for reforms.

Good government is good politics.

I'm confident that, were I mayor, I would do some things differently than he has. But I think there's a world of difference between him and his immediate predecessor.

Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests. The right reason is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good, and to leave this nation better than we found it.

Now I know what a statesman is; he's a dead politician. We need more statesmen.

The Senate floor is and always has been the great arena of our democracy. I spent eight years in my younger life as a boxer, and sometimes when I enter the chamber, I think, 'This is the ring. The American people can see us here and listen to our arguments. This is where the fights matter.'

My dream of politics all my life has been that it is the common business, that it is something we owe to each other to understand and discuss with absolute frankness.

A democratic home is the foundation of a democratic state.

Administration is the essence of government, and its quality is a prime condition of civic comfort.

Africa must develop a genuine culture of alternation and opposition, without which democracy in any country, including the West, cannot exist.

I cannot run the political machine. I have enough on my hands without that. It is the people's business.

Our democracy is only as good as the people who are willing to step up and run for office.

The success of an elected official is doing what everyone knows needs to be done.