Lindsey Graham Quotes

A politician thinks of the next election; the statesman thinks of the next generation

It's hard for young players to see the big picture. They just see three or four years down the road.

The difference between a politician and a statesman is: a politician thinks of the next election and a statesman thinks of the next generation.

We're so used to thinking in the short term, and the minute you speak in more long-term language then you tend to get dismissed as utopian and so on. We have a real problem here in making long-term thinking respectable

Our ethical values point one way, towards intergenerational responsibility, but our political system points another, towards the short-term horizon of the next election. We should consider introducing agents who can vote in a far-seeing and impartial way.

I see the demographics increasing, and by that I mean the notion of social acceptance is growing, not decreasing; I think the notion of fiscal responsibility is growing, not decreasing. And Republicans seem to be moving further away from those two categories than closer.

While I am a Republican, I'm a conservative first and I'm a constitutional conservative, and in Washington some of the Republicans are oftentimes just as much a problem as some of the Democrats, and we need to elect more senators like Senator Rubio and others who will stand proudly as conservatives to do the right thing for our country.

Whether politicians are dealing with complex policy problems or trying to communicate with the electorate, it makes sense to establish a clear, long term narrative underpinned by forward-looking policies to deliver on its vision.

It is statesmanlike for the administration and Congress to look to our nation's welfare beyond their terms in office.

If politicians are good copy, I like them. If not, I don’t care about them.

Politicians are elected for two years or four years at a time, and prevention programs of all kinds are simply not a priority for people whose careers are so short-lived.

A great politician has to bother himself less with means than with goals.

There is something wrong with the way in which we make our decisions. The Government listen too much to the pollsters and the party managers. The trouble is that they are not even very good at politics, and they are entering too much into policy decisions. As a result, there is too much short-termism, too much reacting to events, and not enough shaping of events. We give the impression of being in office but not in power. Far too many important decisions are made for 36 hours' publicity.

Politicians are always realistically maneuvering for the next election. They are obsolete as fundamental problem-solvers.

The modern Southern politician is the least far-seeing of all our short-sighted classes of American statesmen….

It's time to put country ahead of party. It's time to put the next generation ahead of the next election.

Reducing future risks requires paying some immediate costs.

One of the hardest things in politics is getting a democracy to deal with something now where the payoff is long term or the price of inaction is decades away.

Good public service is good practical politics…. My goal is to strengthen the [Republican] Party by bettering it..

The truth is, politicians want to be reelected, and no European leader sill risk his or her future by overusing a policy that us costly in the short run but possibly beneficial in the long run.

Barak Obama is a chess player in a town full of checkers players.

Republicans must sell a big-cause, problem-solving vision - low-ego and happy-warrior in tone.

When everyone is running the machine, and it's all working, there's a tendency to look at the short term and focus on incremental opportunities and not look ahead to the really big opportunities.

You have to build businesses for longer term.

For a politician, the long term is between now and the next election.