Gloria Steinem Quotes

Policymakers are not the change makers. Because policymakers can't make policy unless we allow them.

The people never have and never will be able to understand how the will of a majority of the House of Representatives can be set aside by the judgment of a few men on a powerful committee.

Severe opposition is a measure of success (because) one inevitable result of winning a majority change in consciousness is a backlash from those forces whose power depended on the old one.

Some people have much more pull than other people. But when I say that the public has ultimate responsibility, I'm not saying it in a moral sense. I'm just saying it in the sense of what is it that's really going to bring change.

I think if more members of Congress would talk about what they see and what they want to do and what they want to accomplish, rather than talking about their opponent, we would begin to shape and reshape American public opinion on what the political world looks like.

I have seen how effective language attached to policies that are mainstream and delivered by people who are passionate and effective can change the course of history.

I figured there's nobody who's going to beat me or shoot me or crucify me. I can't help if people don't like me up there in Washington. I've got a district that I respect, and I think it respects me.

Perhaps we'll realize that each of us has not one vote but ten thousand or a million.

Let a bill, or law, be read, in the one branch or the other, every one instantly thinks how it will affect his constituents.

Why shouldn't a child look to want to be a political figure, to change our nation, to lead us the right directions?

The dominant color of politics is gray; difficult choices and compromise are required at almost every step of the journey toward a major new program.

The power and influence of public opinion has increased, and the driving force of the nosiest elements of public opinion tends in excited times to consist, not of majorities, but of minorities.

Burke said there were three estates in Parliament; but in the reporter's gallery yonder, there sat a fourth estate more important far than they all.

Policy and politics are always mixed up.

Politicians are becoming mouthpieces for other forces justifying the status quo.

I know that you do not make the laws, but I also know that you are the wives and mothers, the sisters and daughters of those who do.

If there be any real support among the people for such a constitutional amendment, it is so small that not even one person has been able to get himself a job as a lobbyist to come before the Congress and try to have it pass the joint resolution.

A few people with a clear agenda can make a big difference in government.

Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change public opinion can change the government practically just so much.

Nations are liable to various revolutions in the state of their minds, and extent of their knowledge, as well as in their power and wealth ….

The lobbyists are a kind of permanent other government.

Inter-caste marriages in India are on the rise but still tend to be the province of the liberal few. For much of the country, with its penchant for arranged marriages and close family ties, caste is still a primary determinant in choosing a spouse. Politics is where caste has gotten a surprising new lease on life. After money and education, democracy is, of course, the third powerful force transforming Indian society. But Indians, it turns out, are passionate about the caste of their politicians. Nearly half of the voting population of even a highly educated city like Bangalore considers caste to be the No. 1 reason to vote for a candidate.

Most governments and people want reform. It’s the prospect of change that makes reform rare.

Politics is a leading indicator.

Social change … almost inevitably leads to the rise of new political actors demanding a voice and a share of power.