Henry Miller Quotes

I never desire to know anything of the detail of political measures, lest even those which I think best should lose anything of their intrinsic value to me, by seeing what low, paltry, personal motives and base machinery and dirty hands have helped to bring them about.

Politicians need three things to be successful: money, unchecked ego, and sociopathic drive.

Is self-interest a bad thing? We want our leaders to be pure and good, but at the same time we want them to be effective, and to be effective you often have to be ruthless and not bound by ideology or the same morals that we pretend to hold ourselves to.

A political career brings out the basest qualities in human nature.

Politicians have no politics.

[Politicians and political party] leaders themselves, though they originally may have meant nothing but their own aggrandizement, become many of them in time the dupes of their own sophistry, and are as eager for this great reformation as the weakest and foolishest of their followers.

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.

American capitalism has helped finance the communist takeover of the world. Somebody is going to answer to God for this

The essence of American politics consists of the manipulation of populism by elitism.

In order to obtain and hold power a man must love it. Thus the effort to get it is not likely to be coupled with goodness, but with the opposite qualities of pride, craft and cruelty.

The term Party is applied equally to the peaceful parties of America and to the Communist Party of Russia, the Nazi Party of Germany, and the Fascist Party of Italy. The methodology of these parties varies, but their fundamental objective-to place and keep their leaders in control of the government - is the same.

Theodore betrays his friends for his own ambition.

Under every stone lurks a politician

All the convents in Madrid are not worth the life of a single Republican.

When a man speaks of the need for realism one may be sure that this is always the prelude to some bloody deed.

If you do not know how to lie, cheat and steal, turn your attention to politics and learn.

I have the disease called politics.

The philosophical conservative is someone willing to pay the price of other people's suffering for his principles.

A small acquaintance with history shows that all governments are selfish and the French governments more selfish than most.

Politics—where they pat you on the back so they'll know where to stick the knife.

If you would know the depth of meanness of human nature, you have got to be a prime minister running for a general election.

What does democracy come down to? The persuasive power of slogans invented by wily self-seeking politicians.

But what will not ambition and revenge descend to?

Politicians start wars, but it's young men who wash themselves with blood because of the politicians' shortsightedness.

Our modern politicians … claim that they are too practical to be pure and too patriotic to be moral.