Scott Peters Quotes

One good thing about being in business is you learn to compromise. And so you learn to strike a deal that maybe isn't what you were looking for but is better than what you've got.

You can cooperate and not compromise your core values. But I'm a realist with the philosophy that sometimes you've got to take bites out of the apple instead of the whole apple.

I'm a pragmatist.

I am an expert in the 'art of the possible.'

Sometimes a little compromise isn't a bad thing. You don't need to be precious about it.

When you collaborate, you have to be willing to scrap a lot.

When times are tough, constant conflict may be good politics but in the real world, cooperation works better. After all, nobody's right all the time, and a broken clock is right twice a day.

An ideologue believes that what is right will work. A pragmatist believes that what works is right.

I learned a long time ago in politics, never say never.

The common belief is that you are either a dreamer or a realist. But idealism and pragmatism aren't as far apart as one might think.

You must be interested in finding the best way, not in having your own way.

If I believe in something, I will fight for it, with all I have. But I do not demand all or nothing. I would rather get something than nothing.

Final cut is overrated. Only fools keep insisting on always having the final word. The wise swallow their pride in order to get to the best possible cut.

As a writer, you're really in control of almost everything. That's not the case in TV. You have to be prepared to work with a lot of people to make something happen, and you got to be prepared, at least in the beginning, to not be too good at your specific task.

I think President Obama is a committed, practicing nonideologue. He's consumed by neither tactics nor ideology. He is more concerned about outcomes than he is about process and categorizations.

I believe you can work with anybody.

The common agenda both sides seem to share is: Whatever works.

My only definition is that I am a pragmatist.

As a property developer, I learned a long time ago to choose your battles wisely and that, unfortunately, compromise is a given.

I do not come bearing a party label on my sleeve - or a quick fix in my back pocket. I do not come with a rigid ideology in my heart - or a soul that tells me to go it alone. I do not come to uproot tradition - or to be imprisoned by it.

It is best to live however one can be.

When you're failing, there's a very powerful incentive to put ideology aside and just do what seems to work.

One thing I learned particularly at Yale was how to work with others. Having studied so long trying to master myself, the biggest challenge was learning about the other person's work.

The acceptance of certain realities doesn't preclude idealism. It can lead to certain breakthroughs.

I'm very pragmatic.