Mary Todd Lincoln Quotes

By exploiting envy and fear, politicians can portray themselves as the saviors and protectors of the public — doing and saying whatever is necessary to gain the support needed to remain in power.

Secrecy is the foundation of politics.

The word "education" has an evil sound in politics; there is a pretense of education, when the real purpose is coercion without the use of force.

Politics is the art of making the people believe that they are in power, when in fact, they have none.

It's better to be known as a puppet than pretend not to be a puppet like Nawaz Sharif.

Trump did not spring out of nowhere, and I was struck by how prescient writers like Alexis de Tocqueville and George Orwell and Hannah Arendt were about how those in power get to define what the truth is.

This is politics. In politics, you only show the cake but not the ingredients. The time will come when I show you the cake and the ingredients.

A fundamental premise of politics is we can make this work if people just never figure it out.

History is not happenstance: it is conspiratorial. Carefully planned and executed by people in power.

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all the people some of the time, which is just long enough to be president of the United States.

I have a fantasy where Ted Turner is elected President but refuses because he doesn't want to give up power.

But there is a difference between cozying up to power and being close to power.

An election is coming. Universal peace is declared, and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry.

Flattery was one of Kissinger's principal tools in winning over Nixon, and a tool he employed shamelessly.

Smilin' for the Presidency

All political power is primarily an illusion …. Mirrors and blue smoke …

The less people know about what is going on, the easier it is to wield power and authority.

Politics. The art of governing mankind by deceiving them.

The delusion of the people is necessary to the dominant party. I see the extent to which that delusion has been already carried, and I see there is no length to which it may not be pushed by a party in possession of the revenues and the legal authorities of the United States

A Galileo could no more be elected president of the United States than he could be elected Pope of Rome. Both high posts are reserved for men favored by God with an extraordinary genius for swathing the bitter facts of life in bandages of self-illusion.

If he [Abraham Lincoln] is re-elected I can keep him in ignorance of my affairs, but if he is defeated, then the bills will be sent in, and he will know all.

Sitting in marble corridors waiting for important people to lie to you.

Deception is the knowledge of kings.

Politics is a great art. It succeeds at convincing the people that they have to pay for what has been stolen from them.

Politics is power, and communications is power,