Rita Mae Brown Quotes

Politics means competition, especially in senior positions. If you don't know that, you're not especially suited to politics.

As I climbed the electoral ladder - from state assemblyman to mayor of Woodbridge and finally to governor of New Jersey - political compromises came easy to me because I'd learned how to keep a part of myself innocent of them.

You don’t become a statesman unless you are first a good politician.

I knew Saleh well, having interviewed and met with him several times. He was a professional Machiavelli, fluent in all forms for political maneuvering.

Politics is ultimately not that complicated a profession; it's where the mediocre distinguish themselves.

Professional politicians like to talk about the value of experience in government. Nuts! The only experience you gain in politics is how to be political.

You know what kind of person it takes to run for President? Not normal. They could start out okay, but by the time they reach that level they've sold their soul to the devil so many times and stomped the guts out of enough people that they are definitely not like you and me, not even close.

I know I'd be an absolutely horrendous politician.

Some presidents, such as Bill Clinton and John F. Kennedy, are political sailors - they tack with the wind, reaching difficult policy objectives through bipartisan maneuvering and pulse-taking.

The essential ingredient of politics is timing.

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.

A politician is a man who understands government. A statesman is a politician who's been dead for 15 years.

First and foremost, when I think of him - I'm prejudiced; I worked for the guy for six and a half years - when I think of him, I think of him first and foremost as an idea politician.

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

In the end, I think part of my problem was that I was a better legislator than I was a politician.

He has the best political mind of all the generals I have.

I believe that [Bill] Clinton is the best tactical politician, certainly in my lifetime.

Politics is like a race horse. A good jockey must know how to fall with the least possible damage.

No particular prior experience—not business or academia, or think tanks, or law—suggests that an individual will master the bureaucratic politics of Washington DC.

Failure in the management of practical affairs seems to be a qualification for success in the management of public affairs.

I have covered Pelosi for years, and always wondered how she learned to operate and excel in politics the way she does.

The problem is Donald Trump was an outsider to politics. He really didn't have a team of seasoned political veterans around him who had worked together and knew how to work together and get something done.

I have not the smarts or patience for political office.

There's no better inside player than Nancy Pelosi, and I don't have any animosity towards her.

People who champion Trump say they don't want politics-as-usual. But 'politic' is also an adjective. It means 'tactful and diplomatic.' It's necessary for an elected official to be politic.