Brian Lamb Quotes

I liked the give-and-take of a policy discussion in the community, with citizens. I didn't know that even took place, frankly, but I never dreamed it would be an enjoyable thing to do.

Town meetings are not bean bag. I've had hundreds of them, and sometimes folks get upset. And that's part of America, part of our process.

Politics is about the participation and engagement of the wider citizenry - to miss that point would doom us to irrelevance.

I think it's appropriate in America for anyone to speak out and say what their reaction is to the president's State of the Union speech.

I believe that everyone should participate in democracy and enjoy doing it.

Talk politics, talk about study and talk positively.

I still love following and thinking about politics. I enjoy recommending important journalism I read or see from other sources.

We're all looking for an authentic way to be engaged in the community, engaged in politics, engaged in national discussion - and so, we're clunky. We're all clunky. But it's better than not doing it.

There is a lot of noise and conflict in our political discourse, which is fun to cover, but I'm convinced from my travels that people also thirst for more details as well as insight and context.

I was raised to speak out about politics and the world around me. I would do it whether I was in the public or not. It is the way I was taught. The American way.

I've found that when you roll up your sleeves and join people in their daily work, they tend to open up quite a bit and let you know what they really think about the issues facing our country and what kind of job they think the government is doing.

My town hall meetings are with friends and neighbors, fellow Americans. We engage.

I don't get political.

What we are seeing here is democracy in action.

Politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.

President's are compelled to shout across the gap between politics and society.

Television has shortened our political discourse.

I hope we can use television somehow to begin to reengage people in this conversation of democracy.

All people have the duty and the right to participate in public debate.

Citizens are refined, cultivated, and very political. I believe in the legitimacy of their participation.

I think there’s more of a tendency now than in the past to avoid discussion of serious problems. It has a pernicious effect on our politics and on governing, because to govern, you need a mandate. And you don’t get a mandate if you don’t say what you’re going to do.

I think everybody who has a brain should get involved in politics. Working within. Not criticizing it from the outside. Become an active participant, no matter how feeble you think the effort is.

Politics is - once in a while - a forum for serious debate about political philosophy.

I watch way too much C-SPAN.

Democracy is stronger, is better, is more robust when people participate. We should want to encourage that.