Barry Goldwater Quotes

I have two bookcases that used to be filled with cookbooks, but now it's mostly books about politics and government. I might just give this all up and run for office.

Before being elected to Congress, I oversaw the Cook County Hospital System as a Cook County Commissioner for 10 years.

There is no school that teaches you how to run a state. You make mistakes, but you learn on the job.

I’m the first to say that I’ve no idea what I’m doing. There is no manual here for how to be mayor.

Being a cabinet minister is not like running a company. A country is not a company.

The House [of Representatives] is composed of sober, solid, old-charter folks.... There are few shining geniuses; there are many who have experience, the virtues of the heart, and the habits of business. It will be quite a republican assembly.

You cannot bring inexperienced men ... into the government and expect the government to run well.

Our people are slow to learn the wisdom of sending character instead of talent to Congress. Again and again they have sent a man of great acuteness, a fine scholar, a fine forensic orator, and some master of the brawls has crunched him up in his hands like a bit of paper.

When you get into an airplane, you expect a pilot who knows how to fly. Running a Government is also an expertise.

Coming into Congress, I didn't really have much of a worldly experience.

I served three terms in the U.S. Senate and was co-chairman of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform in 2010. So I know a bit about how Washington operates, and I have had plenty of experience doing the work of running for office.

I have been a civil servant and a politician for over 30 years.

One must realise that it is not a child's play to run a government.

I encourage all young people who are interested in government to try and apply to work for a congressman or some other elected official because you get very good experience.

The difficulty with businessmen entering politics, after they've had a successful business career, is that they want to start at the top.

I've had to learn to understand Presidents.

Before I was elected President I thought the chief pleasure of it would be to give honors and offices to old friends. But you know you can't do that when you're President of the United States; you have to get the best men.

Mitt Romney runs on the claim “I ran a business, therefore I know how to run the country.” Actually, all he did was fire people.

It’s like volleyball. There are setters and spikers. The chief of staff is a setter, putting the ball in the air so the Senator can spike it.

The question of our time is rapidly becoming can government get things done?

Failure in the management of practical affairs seems to be a qualification for success in the management of public affairs.

I can say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman - not me, not Bill, nobody - more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president of the United States of America.

In government, you're not a writer, you're an administrator.

I really enjoyed my time in state government. I thought we made a difference. I liked being a part of that effort. I had a different experience in Washington.

Before being elected to Congress, I was a mayor, and it's this perspective that makes me certain that Ed FitzGerald is the right kind of leader to get Ohio back on track.