Leonard Mlodinow Quotes

It’s not only what you do in politics. It’s what you appear to do.

In politics, being ridiculous is more damaging than being extreme.

Politicians are part fake, part substance.

Sometimes heads of state have to make statements for [local] public consumption.

Nixon's pretense was to be less than he was—less thoughtful, less introverted, less skeptical and analytical, less cerebral—to present himself deliberately as an Average American: patriotic, conventionally religious and responsible, gregarious, sports-loving, hardworking and hard-nosed.

I think celebrity endorsements hurt politicians.

Don't worry about polls, but if you do, don't admit it.

Did I say that the President's entire job is image management? Of course not.

Politics is just show business for ugly people.

Politics is show business for ugly people.

Obama's pop-cultural focus may seem demeaning to the office of the presidency. It may be mockable. But it is also tremendously effective.

No, no, no. Dick Cheney forbade me to waste time on his image. I would have liked to have done more.

You often see politicians who try to put on a different persona; they think they should be more jolly or serious. Invariably, the persona they choose is worse than their own.

I'm really interested in how we view the public figure, what makes a public figure, what makes a celebrity, and how images make politicians, so I take an interest in politics, but it's really an interest in the image.

I don't think we have the right haircut or tattoos for politics.

The single biggest weakness that politicians have as a group is that they want people to like them.

A politician wants to come off as a happy warrior. To be contemplative seems almost effete, fancy – dispiriting somehow to much of your audience. He [Barack Obama] is not afraid to be this way at all.

In politics, reality and appearance are of equal importance. You cannot attend to one and neglect the other. A man must determine both what he is, and what others believe him to be.

It may not be fair, but it's true that in politics - in TV broadcasting, in any public figure - people pay attention to your appearances. One of the things we were all talking about was Al Gore won't be running for president unless we see that he's losing weight. Americans usually elect a taller man president.

Generally speaking, politicians are an odd bunch. They seem to have very thick skins and genuinely don't care what people think. And charm is a very important part of the politician's armoury. I try to resist that kind of charm.

Modern politics today requires a mastery of television. I've never really warmed up to television and, in fairness to television, it's never warmed up to me.

In politics you learn to always smile.

In politics, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Politicians need a film appreciation course.

Appearances are not truth. But every politician knows that his or her image, as well as his or her actions, can make the difference between failure and success.