David Brinkley Quotes

Washington is not a geographical entity, it is a state of mind.... People understand how Cleveland works. They even understand how New York City works, but they can't figure Washington out.

Presidents have molded and been molded by all that happens here [Washington DC].

[On Washington, D.C.:] a town of successful men and the women they married before they were successful.

Washington is a city of arrogance.

Washington [DC] is a zero sum place.

Politicians. Little Tin Gods on Wheels.

Territorial Governors -- are nothing but politicians who go out to the outskirts of countries and suffer the privations there in order to build up stakes and come back as United States Senators.

In Washington, every closet has a revolving door.

It is no secret that Washington, D.C., is a tempest of people and institutions relentlessly seeking power over the lives of everyday Americans.

I've been really at the highest levels of American political life.

I don't have to make a point. I'm George Bush. I'm the president. I built that arena, so I don't have to make a point.

I love Washington, but it is a self-important town.

Washington, or as I like to call it, 68 square miles surrounded by reality.

I love politics, but I wouldn't want to be involved in it. Too little money, too much work! I don't really have the personality for that.

Anyone who thinks they're indispensible is fooling themselves.

I don't have to be in politics.

I think that if politics is just about getting your backside on important seats, then it's a pretty worthless endeavor.

I'm not serving in office because I desperately needed 99 new friends in the U.S. Senate.

Many people around the President have sizeable egos before entering government, some with good reason. Their new positions will do little to moderate their egos.

I think there's a lot to learn from Rockefeller on how to pass legislation.

I had a lot of hubris going into politics, but I didn't think I was Pierre Trudeau.

I have no ambitions to be a cabinet minister, or prime minister. I wouldn't wish being prime minister on my worst enemy.

I am not entering politics to be another Knesset member. If I enter the political arena I want to be prime minister. Period.

If I was into politics, I would be rich.

I doubt there's anything you could say to Donald Rumsfeld that would puncture the armor of his narcissism.