Chuck Grassley Quotes

It is very difficult to get legislation passed. But then the danger always is that you have no power at all if you do not exercise constant power.

It is impossible for a Minister to please the many without displeasing the few

If you're a politician, you can see there might be times when, to secure the greater good, you have to take a backwards step. That is a matter of tactics.

The politicians, they try to please everybody and when you want to please everybody, you won't please everybody. That's not my way of doing politics.

When I face an issue of great import that cleaves both constituents and colleagues, I always take the same approach. I engage in deep deliberation and quiet contemplation. I wait to the last available minute and then I always vote with the losers. Because, my friend, the winners never remember and the losers never forget.

Senators today are shying away from casting controversial votes on the proposition of any single vote can lead to their defeat.

Successful and unsuccessful political policies have one commonalty. The people who created the policies thought they would be successful.

U. S. Presidents have to play 3-dimensional chess. Every move on the horizontal board against an international adversary simultaneously moves a piece on the vertical board of domestic politics.

That’s one difficulty about a democracy. Nothing ever gets decided—even after its been decided.

Politics and strategy are one.

The American people would much rather vote for a leader who is strong and wrong than for one who is weak and right.

I have no delusions about my likability in every scenario. I know that in order to get things done the way you want them, oftentimes your position will be unpopular.

If you intend to do the right thing for yourself, your family, and for your business, it becomes more like a balancing act. It's juggling - and accepting the fact that it won't always be perfect will help you better manage the inevitable ebbs and flows.

Politicians always do a two-step, depending on what their district politics looks like.

I'm going to do what is best for the caucus.

Life is full of trade-offs. At different phrases in your life, you're able to do certain things that you can't do at other phases. And you make choices.

Transactional politics requires us to be pragmatic about current realities and the state of public opinion. It's all about getting the best result possible given the circumstances here and now.

You have to be ready for anything. It's a good reminder about democracy. Voters can tell you to carry on, or chuck you out. You've got to be ready for both.

In politics, you have to balance these things: what is good for the country, what is available, and what is possible.

No President can achieve everything or please everyone.

The Republican leadership thinks the best way to avoid losing elections is to let the Democrats win every controversial issue.

The trouble for lots of politicians is they worry so much about everybody liking every single thing that they do.

I will always need to compromise and make choices - you just have to work hard at making the right choice day by day.

You always hear that politics is a function of timing and pacing.

Politics, as a profession, is not about making the right political decision. It's about making the right decision and then managing the political consequences.