Carrie Lam Quotes

Dialogue is the essence of parliamentary politics.

Politicians are elected to reach compromise. We compromise all the time in our daily lives. Is there something dirty about that?

You've got to work things out in the cloakroom, and when you've got them worked out, you can debate a little before you vote.

The art of politics is to design a solution that feels painless to all.

Drafting a treaty is much like drafting a law, and I doubt if the members of this committee could point to a single law whose text they would all agree is absolutely perfect, totally without a flaw. The successive drafts of a treaty get better and better …. Even the final text that is signed and ratified will have flaws, but it will be accepted if it is seen by a strong consensus as substantially better than no treaty at all.

When you are President you have to get something done, and that often means compromise.

All legislation of any consequence is a compromise. You have to recognize that.

As to such of them as you cannot prevail with to concur you are to endeavor at least to soften them in their opposition or to get them to be absent.

The way you get anything done in the Congress is through coalitions.

Nearly all legislation is the result of compromise.

The conference committee, that wonderful wrestling ring of compromise where House and Senate versions of bill are wrenched into law ...

Legislation is the art of compromise.

Gingrich, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, and Clinton passed legislation because they understood and appreciated the difficult political process. They fought for their principles yet recognized the need for compromise to get anything done.

Legislating is a very human experience in which trust and mutual respect play critical roles.

You gotta get into some confrontations sometimes to get the right result on the floor, but I think the bulk of our membership wants us to work out problems before a bill comes to the floor.

The government was built on compromising. And it's frustrating as hell.

I would say that of many, many difficult aspects of my job as speaker, presiding over a debate on a bill that has an emotional aspect to it on both sides is the most challenging thing that I can think of.

That is a good bill. If you can beat it, go on and beat it, but you ought to give me a fair shake.

A pragmatic sense of what will and will not play politically is a critical skill of a negotiator.

Negotiation or Compromise can get you beat.

It ought not to be beyond the intelligence of even the most hidebound local politician to see the benefits of imaginative compromise.

In early America, taverns would sometimes ban political discussions in order to prevent the physical fights that would often break out when drinking men differed significantly about politics.

There is never just one way in politics.

Conflict can't be avoided in our public lives any more than we can avoid conflict with people we love. One of the great strengths of our society is that we can express these conflicts openly.

It typically takes bipartisan work to build enough consensus to get things through our legislative process.