Public Apathy Quotes

People don't give a damn what the average Senator or Congressman says. The reason they don't care is that they know that what you hear in Congress is 99 per cent tripe, ignorance and demagoguery and not to be relied on.

The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.

I doubt the terrorists saw 9/11 as a teaching opportunity. And we're not really a culture geared to anything as humble as 'learning.' But I was disappointed in how quickly everyone wanted to get back to normal. It was as if we watched terrorism on TV for a while, then got bored and turned back to 'American Idol.'

Economics is a subject profoundly conducive to cliche, resonant with boredom. On few topics is an American audience so practiced in turning off its ears and minds. And none can say that the response is ill advised.

There's a total separation between the federal government and the people. So running for president was an attempt on my part to get people to care enough to go vote. But people just don't bother. And that's why it's not working.

The great silent majority.

What's gratifying about West Wing is that everybody told us that it couldn't be done - that the man or woman on the street didn't care about politics. But if you set things up correctly, people don't have a problem with it.

In Turkey, public opinion is nil and the people always obey any effective executive force, and obey nothing else…. The perpetuation of Turkish rule is the perpetuation of infamy.

That which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it. Every one thinks chiefly of his own, hardly at all of the common interest; and only when he is himself concerned as an individual. For besides other considerations, everybody is more inclined to neglect the duty which he expects another to fulfill.

You just don't see people running through the streets to have the deficit cut.

I was involved with the landmines before the Princess of Wales, and nobody gave a damn about people losing their limbs. It only became a success when she came along.

People tend to become cynical about even the most appalling crisis if it seems to be dragging on, failing to come to term.

The public, as opposed to the profession, has little interest. Historiography—the study of history and its processes—is dull stuff.

Most Scots might be able to identify six vegetables - but only two MSPs. There are parts of Scotland where you rarely get more than 40% turnout at the polls. There's a big disconnect there, and I think comedians bridge that gap.

That's always been the case in America; there's been a big spectrum in how much people are interested in American politics.

We have the worst-equipped army in the world … our people don’t give a damn. They’re too busy making money.

I fell down in Hyde Park with a friend who'd had a hip operation, and neither of us could get up again. People must have thought we were a couple of drunks rolling around and walked on by.

I love talking about the Kennedy assassination. The reason I do is because I'm fascinated by it. I'm fascinated that our government could lie to us so blatantly, so obviously for so long, and we do absolutely nothing about it.

The public will forget the government before it is born.

The goal is to keep the bewildered herd bewildered. It's unnecessary for them to trouble themselves with what's happening in the world. In fact, it's undesirable - if they see too much of reality they may set themselves to change it.

I am struck by how casually we as a nation react to the carnage in Iraq.

A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that's just how the world will come to an end: to the general applause of wits who believe it's a joke.

A lot of people are waking up to human history, but so many people have been conditioned by the government controlled media to think that it's cool not to care.

It is hard to feel individually responsible with respect to the invisible processes of a huge and distant government.

There is a collapse of public spirit; the victories reported by the Army of Italy have not produced the enthusiasm that the national honor naturally inspires in Frenchmen.