Jon Meacham Quotes

In politics the future is never a straight line projection of the present.

Nothing is irreparable in politics.

I've been a politician long enough to know that every year will find us living in a situation that one couldn't have imagined a year previously. Sometimes it's better than we imagined, sometimes it's not as good.

A week is a long time in politics.

I've always said that in politics, your enemies can't hurt you, but your friends will kill you.

A week is a long time in politics.

Trump pivots, but then he pivots right back. It's a 360 degree pivot.

One of the reasons for the survival of the ANC (African National Congress) over such a long period, is their ability to steal other people's programs, and to adapt to situations. As extraordinary adaptation to a policy which previously they opposed, and then they realize its merits, and then adjust and it comes out as a different policy. That has been the characteristic of the ANC, for which they've been criticized historically, as being inconsistent. But it's that which enabled them to survive to a ripe old age, and they are still doing it.

Inconsistencies of opinion, arising from changes of circumstances, are often justifiable

Let the king consider as hostile his immediate neighbor and the enemy of such a foe, as friendly.

Tectonic shifts in American politics take time—often a long time.

A week is a long time in politics. A month is an eternity.

Politicians are like weather vanes.

Nothing in American politics is forever.

A man who has made up his mind on a given subject twenty-five years ago and continues to hold his political opinions after he has been proved to be wrong is a man of principle; while he who from time to time adapts his opinions to the changing circumstances of life is an opportunist.

Your ally today could be your adversary tomorrow and your ally the next day. Work hard, be polite, be respectful, and don't take it personally.

That's politics. Your friend one day is your enemy the next and vice versa.

I've always said I would never say never when it comes to politics.

There is not a more prudent maxim, than to live with one's enemies as if they may one day become one's friends; as it commonly happens, sooner or later, in the vicissitudes of political affairs.

One of the things that has always been my undoing in politics is my readiness to do whatever job has to be done.

In politics, sunny days and rainy days can change very quickly.

[In politics] when A goes after B and there's a C, and D and a Q all lined up there, you have no idea who's going to be the beneficiary.

The only thing that's consistent in politics is change.

I'm a politician. I believe that we can change any rule.

A politician knows that his friends are not always his allies, and that his adversaries are not always his enemies.