W. Somerset Maugham Quotes

A President needs political understanding to run the government, but he may be elected without it.

Politicians are wither very good at running for office or they are good at running government. Seldom are the two found together.

The art of governing is a great metier, requiring the whole man, and it is therefore not well for a ruler to have too strong tendencies for other affairs.

Many have ruled well who could not perhaps define a Commonwealth.

I am sure of my ability to form a good government.

I'm running [ for presidency] because we need to take our country back.

I always tell people this: to be a savvy politician or a good head of state and to be charitable are not mutually exclusive things.

Obama and his associates are fantastic campaigners but have little ability or skill to govern.

Governments need to have both shepherds and butchers.

Given the daunting challenges that we face, it's important that president elect Obama is prepared to really take power and begin to rule day one.

Of course it's not enough to be a good man to be an effective ruler and it never has been.

In my opinion, Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't qualified to be governor of California.

All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.

You're going to find that, intellectually, the [governors] as a whole are a cut or two above what they were 10 or 20 years ago.

I did not love politics. As a matter of fact, I hated politics. I loved governing which is … a different thing.

The president has to govern.

Is Bill Clinton so good at politics, or are other politicians so bad?

It is not an easy job to govern China, I am aware of that.

Who so taketh in hand to frame any state or government ought to presuppose that all men are evil, and at occasions will show themselves so to be.

Governing a large state is like boiling a small fish.

Writing laws is easy, but governing is difficult.

The liquor of statecraft is distilled from the mash you got.

Government is an art, not a science, and an adventure, not a planned itinerary.

The Administration of the United States is such dread I almost feel paralyzed.

I always say that campaigning and governing are two different things.