Barry Levinson Quotes

With my natural communication abilities, I could probably gather a crowd even without the Spirit.

Speeches are not magic and there is no great speech without great policy.

The mark of a true politician is that he is never at a loss for words because he is always half-expecting to be asked to make a speech.

I wish I could talk like Donald Trump or Steve Wynn. Hell, I'd love it.

Kennedy understood something that is not so obvious, and that is that words are more important than deeds. You can’t govern 300 million people—or 180 million when Kennedy was president—by doing things. You can only do it by rhetoric.

A great politician has great charisma.

Talkers have always ruled. They will continue to rule. The smart thing is to join them.

The only people I know getting in high places by running their mouth are politicians.

It's like in politics: You can have great intentions for the world, but if you're not a good speaker and if you're not the sort of person that people can intimately link with, then it makes it very easy to say, "Well, they're not a nice person."

Politicians are actors, too, don't you think? Usually, if you like people and you're outgoing, not a shy little thing, you can do pretty well in politics.

Hyperbole was to Lyndon Johnson what oxygen is to life.

Well, Bill, I don't think you're going to find many shy people that are in the political business.

Business is a useful tool in politics, but it's not enough. You need much more than to be a good businessman, to be a good politician.

A politician is a statesman who approaches every question with an open mouth.

Most people don't have the power of persuasion.

Every time you have to speak, you are auditioning for leadership.

My view of Sarah Palin is she is the most dynamic figure maybe in politics, even more in some ways than President Obama, who is a little more scripted than she is. He is great with the teleprompter.

At the start of his second term, one wonders less about Obama's fitness than his willingness: Why doesn't he do more to build and maintain the relationships required to govern in era of polarization?

The secret of my success? I speak in a loud clear voice and try not to bump into the furniture.

Each side had its uninformed fanatics. And each side had political leaders who fanned the flames with their rhetoric.

I [Moses] am not a man of words.

I regard most of my speeches as opportunities to teach rather than traditional political speeches.

A politician is a person with whose politics you don't agree; if you agree with him, he is a statesman.

People appreciate and follow the person who can persuade them properly. Make that person you.

If you look at the very best presidents, the most effective presidents, they were always decent salespeople. Ronald Reagan was an extremely effective salesman, very tuned to the people he was selling to, very clear in what he was selling, very resilient and buoyant.