Nassim Nicholas Taleb Quotes

Politics is the science of urgencies.

If we are to maintain our position as a global economic leader, we've got to end the govern-by-crisis mentality that sets us back instead of moving us forward.

The statesman shears the sheep; the politician skins them.

Your personality as the prime minister feeds through to what you emphasise, and what you don't, how you'll handle a situation - whether you've got the combination of intelligence or instincts to adapt and to make good decisions.

To handle the economy and services in a country like Iraq requires delegation of authority and the choice of competent people.

Republics have a longer life and enjoy better fortune than principalities, because they can profit by their greater internal diversity. They are the better able to meet emergencies.

It is essential for a prince to be on a friendly footing with his people, since, otherwise, he will have no resource in adversity.

You can’t govern a country on charisma.

Our system does not know how to bring strength and intellect into the front rank of politics and government...

First, only a stable government can do good for the nation and deliver development. By stable government, I mean one with a full majority. Then, only a strong leader can resolve the problems of the people.

China could easily emerge as the great winner if the Chinese leaders handle the situation well. On the other hand, they could also turn out to be the biggest losers if they handle it poorly. If the management turns out be wrong, this could lead to a political crisis in China.

That realm is never long in quiet, where the ruler is a soldier.

With the magnitude of the challenges we face right now, what we need in Washington are not more political tactics, we need more good ideas. We don't need more point scoring, we need more problem solving.

"Government," says Swift, "is a plain thing, and fitted to the capacity of many heads."

Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.

A republican form of government, without intelligence in the people, must be, on a vast scale, what a mad-house, without superintendent or keepers, would be on a small one.

The quality of government, I suppose, is determined not by what happens, but by how you react to what happens.

Let's give the president some due here. They had a mess, and he fixed it, and they mobilized a lot of authority, and they did it.

I think the country's in trouble. And I think I have a pretty clear sense of the values and principles that have made this country great. I've had a chance to govern and lead with those in mind, with some significant success in Minnesota. And I think the country needs that kind of leadership and insight and perspective.

One of the necessary accompaniments of capitalism in a democracy is political corruption.

In the end the problem isn't that you have the wrong sort of government for the People, but that you have the wrong sort of People.

Constitutional democracy has created astonishing and apparently irreversible social progress. All we're interested in is talking about when government doesn't work.

A king ruleth as he ought, a tyrant as he lists, a king to the profit of all, a tyrant only to please a few.

President means chief servant

It is very doubtful whether man is enough of a political animal to produce a good, sensible, serious and efficient constitution. All the evidence is against it.