Political Sustainability Quotes

Only a government that is rich and safe can afford to be a democracy, for democracy is the most expensive and nefarious kind of government ever heard of on earth

I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries; as long as they are chiefly agricultural.

The thing about politics is to plan 10 years ahead, and assume every year is your last.

No politician has a 50-year horizon.

Everyone knew that democracy - direct rule by all the people - required such spartan, soul-denying virtue on the part of all the people that it was likely to survive only where poverty made upright behavior necessary for the perpetuation of the race.

A lot of times, with campaigns or parties, things are cyclical. We need a long-term strategy on how we continue to engage that goes beyond chair to chair. Always, you are balancing resources with your strategy because you have to win elections.

One thing I'm not sure of - and it's a very open question - is whether the type of politics that I represent really has had its day or not. Now I obviously believe passionately it hasn't, that it's still the answer and not the problem, and, you know, the evidence points both ways.