Dick Morris Quotes

If the critics are right that I've made all my decisions based on polls, then I must not be very good at reading them.

There's symbolism in politics. There's communication in politics. And I think what Donald Trump is saying is, give me the job, and when I get to that job I will figure it out.

Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.

Leaders do not sway with the polls. Instead, they sway the polls through their own words and actions.

The art of politics is knowing what to do next.

In politics a capable ruler must be guided by circumstances, conjectures and conjunctions.

In politics, as in business, leadership is crucial.

Forget the consultants, the pundits and the pollsters; good policy is good politics.

Polls make leadership impossible.

In history lies all the secrets of statecraft.

There is something wrong with the way in which we make our decisions. The Government listen too much to the pollsters and the party managers. The trouble is that they are not even very good at politics, and they are entering too much into policy decisions. As a result, there is too much short-termism, too much reacting to events, and not enough shaping of events. We give the impression of being in office but not in power. Far too many important decisions are made for 36 hours' publicity.

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

Half of the Country adores Erdogan, and half of the country loathes him.

Politics is power, and communications is power,

I didn't have any idea what politics was like. I was surprised at how difficult it is to get something done. In the private world, if I have an idea, I just do it.

Presidents have to decide what their popularity is for. Lyndon Johnson probably understood best that political popularity is a wasting asset. You had to use it when you had it.

Leadership is important in politics.

Mario Ruiz Massieu's resignation places the ball very firmly in Zedillo's court. A key decision he will have to make is whether he is going to govern with, without, or against his own party.

Timing is very important in politics.

If you are guided by opinion polls, you are not practicing leadership -- you are practicing followership.

Politics is not a science...but an art.

I'm not really much into politics, because it's rarely discussed in my line of work, but I know that Barack Obama is trying his best, and that at some point down the road, he's going to get it right.

To rule is easy, to govern difficult.

I would rather be right than President.

It's very useful when politicians have doubts because there are so many choices to be made in the world.