Daniel Patrick Moynihan Quotes

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.'

Our job is to bash the President.

If you are a friend of the Constitution as I am, I hope you will consider engaging me in the topics of my posts whether you agree or disagree with my position on a particular subject.

I think it's appropriate in America for anyone to speak out and say what their reaction is to the president's State of the Union speech.

If one of my colleagues wants to block a bill, they should stand up in front of the American people and explain why.

No, I look at the senators and pray for the country!

In a political sense, there is one problem that underlies all of the others. The problem is making government sufficiently responsive to the people.

I don't know why someone would be dumb enough to challenge Donald Trump.

You know, when we get to a point in this country where dissent is extremism, we've turned, I think, a very dark page in our history. And I don't want us to go there. I encourage Americans and I'm - right now, to go to these town hall meetings, to - to talk to your Congressmen, the people that you elected.

I enjoyed my stay in the Congress. Most people do not. And too many people who have been elected really don't understand the nature of government.

I think that what most surprises anybody who goes into politics from even a modestly cerebral background is the vulgarity of much of the cut and thrust of politics.

Talk radio is an asset to our nation because it encourages strong and healthy debate about public policy, and there is no reason to affect that debate with government legislation.

In politics, being ridiculous is more damaging than being extreme.

There is a continuous stream of opinions on governance issues expressed daily, not only in our Parliament and in the print media, but also on talk-radio and social media.

Avoid any specific discussion of public policy at public meetings.

I think one of the great problems we have in the Republican Party is that we don't encourage you to be nasty. We encourage you to be neat, obedient, loyal and faithful and all those Boy Scout words, which would be great around a campfire but are lousy in politics.

I begin to feel like most Americans don't understand the First Amendment, don't understand the idea of freedom of speech, and don't understand that it's the responsibility of the citizen to speak out.

I’m an elected official so I can talk at any time or any place, light or dark.

If Truman wins, by God I'll make sure the President of the United States can speak to the country whenever he wishes.

Politics is a matter of communications.

That night image had replaced the written word as the natural language of politics.

Politicians who are not good counter-punchers usually become punching bags.

Issues are a problem for politicians most of the time; the reason is that somebody won't like what you say when you start talking issues.

What Mr. [Robert F.] Kennedy says lacks only the merit of being true ... Bobby Kennedy can jump off the capital dome or whatever else he has to do to get the attention of the American people.

The basis of our government's being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter.