Henry Adams Quotes

A political convention is not a place where you can come away with any trace of faith in human nature.

I'm not disillusioned with Clinton. I never had any illusions.

A lot of people who voted for Barack Obama expected and were led to expect something new in politics: a new tone of political discourse in Washington. And I think - I think they're disappointed, because Barack Obama is not a new kind of politician. In fact, he's an old Chicago politician.

It is not in the nature of politics that the best men should be elected. The best men do not want to govern their fellowmen.

The way I see politics is, I don't think it's cynical to accept the fact politicians are human beings, that they're flawed, and they represent the best and the worst of us.

I personally never expected anything of Obama, and wrote about it before the 2008 primaries. I thought it was smoke and mirrors.

What drew me to politics in the first place was the fact that I wanted to have a place to take a stand and use my voice to express what I believed in. But I've no longer got any political aspirations. I feel that as a politician, fifty per cent of people would hate you before you even left the house.

I don't believe there are heroes or saviours in politics.

It would be really hard to get serious about anything political today unless it was a joke.

The characteristic political attitude of today is not one of positive belief, but of despair.

I really found this campaign odious. I couldn't get up for it. The quality of the candidates and the campaign, I just found the whole thing second-rate. I didn't know how to explain to my granddaughter that I was spending my dotage writing about Al Gore and George W. Bush.

I've never been disappointed by politicians. I've never invested that much in them in the first place.

I don't miss politics.

Politics move, as fast as Twitter, and for everyone to think that in four years America was going to be perfect is ridiculous.

In politics, you also have to be cautiously optimistic.

Truth be known, President Obama has never been particularly driven by principle. Right after his election, I wrote a column in a few days warning people that even though I voted for Obama, he was not what people were describing him to be. I saw him in the Senate. I saw him in Chicago.

It is true what is said in Washington - 'No matter how cynical you get, it's never enough to catch up.'

My friend told me later he got the chicken pox. I told him I caught politics and never got over it.

Politics is not a game for naive thinkers. You may go in as an idealist, but you certainly won't come out as one.

The political satirist usually votes against their own interests, but the bottom line is that it doesn't really matter.

The trouble with conservatives is that too many of them come to Washington thinking they are going to drain the swamp, only to discover that Washington is a hot tub.

I do not question people’s motives in politics. I think we do too much of that.

Every four years the naive half who vote are encouraged to believe that if we can elect a really nice man or woman President everything will be all right. But it won't be.

Especially among journalists, politics is not a pursuit that's held in high esteem. We tend to be cynical about it - but I actually believe in democracy.

I'm passionate about politics, but when it comes to political parties, I'm despondent. I'm disappointed at the absence of a sense of humanity and struggle to not become a cynic.