The Cynic’s Word Book<\/i> (1906)
http:\/\/wist.info\/bierce-ambrose\/33717\/<\/a><\/p>\n
¶ But I think the American people expect more from us than cries of indignation and attack. The times are too grave, the challenge too urgent, and the stakes too high — to permit the customary passions of political debate. We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us through that darkness to a safe and sane future.<\/p>\n
— John F. Kennedy<\/b> (1917-1963) US President (1961-63)
“The New Frontier,” Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech, Democratic National Convention, Los Angeles (15 Jul 1960)<\/p>\n
¶ I did not obey your instructions. No. I conformed to the instructions of truth and Nature, and maintained your interest, against your opinions, with a constancy that became me. A representative worthy of you ought to be a person of stability. I am to look, indeed, to your opinions, — but to such opinions as you and I must have five years hence. I was not to look to the flash of the day. I knew that you chose me, in my place, along with others, to be a pillar of the state, and not a weathercock on the top of the edifice, exalted for my levity and versatility, and of no use but to indicate the shiftings of every fashionable gale.<\/p>\n
— Edmund Burke<\/b> (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher ¶ The single most dangerous thing you can do in politics is shut off information from people who don’t agree with you. Surround yourself with sycophants, listen only to the yea-sayers … then stick a fork in it, you’re done.<\/p>\n — Molly Ivins<\/b> (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist ¶ The President must have not only the courage of his convictions, but also the courage to change his convictions.<\/p>\n — Sydney Warren<\/b> (b. 1916) American author ¶ In our brief national history, we have shot four of our presidents, worried five of them to death, impeached one and hounded another out of office. And when all else fails, we hold an election and assassinate their characters.<\/p>\n — P.J. O'Rourke<\/b> (b. 1947) American humorist, editor ¶ The world today is ruled by harassed politicians absorbed in getting into office or turning out the other man so that not much room is left for determining great issues on their merits.<\/p>\n — Winston Churchill<\/b> (1874-1965) British statesman and author ¶ I once told Nixon that the Presidency is like being a jackass caught in a hail storm. You’ve got to just stand there and take it.<\/p>\n — Lyndon B. Johnson<\/b> (1908-1973) American poltician, educator, US President (1963-69) ¶ Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody.<\/p>\n — Franklin Pierce Adams<\/b> (1881-1960) American journalist and humorist ¶ I believe that the public temper is such that the voters of the land are prepared to support the party which gives the best promise of administering the government in the honest, simple, and plain manner which is consistent with its character and purposes. They have learned that mystery and concealment in the management of their affairs cover tricks and betrayal. The statesmanship they require consists in honesty and frugality, a prompt response to the needs of the people as they arise, and a vigilant protection of all their varied interests.<\/p>\n — Grover Cleveland<\/b> (1837–1908) American President (1885–1889, 1893–1897) ¶ For a candidate to spend millions of dollars during the primaries to win a job that pays only $100,000 a year, doesn’t bode well for the citizens’ hopes of electing a man to this high office whose knowledge of economics will balance our national budget.<\/p>\n — Goodman Ace<\/b> (1899-1982) American humorist [b. Goodman Aiskowitz] ¶ The idea that you can merchandise candidates for high office like breakfast cereal — that you can gather votes like box tops — is, I think, the ultimate indignity to the democratic process.<\/p>\n — Adlai Stevenson<\/b> (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman ¶ People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war, or before an election.<\/p>\n — Otto von Bismark<\/b> (1815-1898) Prussian statesman ¶ All presidents start out to run a crusade, but after a couple of years they find they are running something less heroic and much more intractable: namely, the presidency.<\/p>\n — Alistair Cooke<\/b> (1908-2004) Anglo-American essayist and journalist ¶ Today the challenge of political courage looms larger than ever before. … Our political life is becoming so expensive, so mechanized and so dominated by professional politicians and public relations men that the idealist who dreams of independent statesmanship is rudely awakened by the necessities of election and accomplishment.<\/p>\n — John F. Kennedy<\/b> (1917-1963) US President (1961-63) ¶ The difficulty about a politician, no matter how honest and well-intentioned he may be, is always this: that the matter of absolute importance in his mind, to which everything else must yield, is to carry the next election for his party.<\/p>\n — James Freeman Clarke<\/b> (1810-1888) American theologian and author ¶ If there is distrust out there — and there is — perhaps it is because there is so much partisan jockeying for advantage at the expense of public policy. At times it feels as if American politics consists largely of candidates without ideas, hiring consultants without convictions, to stage campaigns without content. Increasingly the result is elections without voters.<\/p>\n — Gerald R. Ford<\/b> (1913-2006) US President, (1974-77) [b. Leslie Lynch King, Jr.] ¶ There are worse things than losing an election; the worst thing is to lose one’s convictions and not tell the people the truth.<\/p>\n — Adlai Stevenson<\/b> (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman ¶ It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.<\/p>\n — John Philpot Curran<\/b> (1750-1817) Irish lawyer and politician ¶ The salvation of America and of the human race depends on the next Election, if we believe the newspapers.<\/p>\n — Ralph Waldo Emerson<\/b> (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet ¶ In every election in American history both parties have their clichés. The party that has the clichés that ring true wins.<\/p>\n — Newt Gingrich<\/b> (b. 1943) American politician [Newton Leroy Gingrich] ¶ The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.<\/p>\n — Abraham Lincoln<\/b> (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65) ¶ For of those to whom much is given, much is required. And when at some future date the high court of history sits in judgment on each of us — recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state — our success or failure, in whatever office we hold, will be measured by the answers to four questions:<\/p>\n First, were we truly men of courage — with the courage to stand up to one’s enemies — and the courage to stand up, when necessary, to one’s associates — the courage to resist public pressure, as well as private greed?<\/p>\n Secondly, were we truly men of judgment — with perceptive judgment of the future as well as the past — of our mistakes as well as the mistakes of others — with enough wisdom to know what we did not know and enough candor to admit it.<\/p>\n Third, were we truly men of integrity — men who never ran out on either the principles in which we believed or the men who believed in us — men whom neither financial gain nor political ambition could ever divert from the fulfillment of our sacred trust?<\/p>\n Finally, were we truly men of dedication — with an honor mortgaged to no single individual or group, and comprised of no private obligation or aim, but devoted solely to serving the public good and the national interest?<\/p>\n Courage — judgment — integrity — dedication — these are the historic qualities … which, with God’s help … will characterize our Government’s conduct in the four stormy years that lie ahead.<\/p>\n — John F. Kennedy<\/b> (1917-1963) US President (1961-63) <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Speech at Bristol, previous to the election (6 Sep 1780)
http:\/\/wist.info\/burke-edmund\/5474\/<\/a><\/p>\n
“Election Denial” (3 Apr. 2001)
http:\/\/wist.info\/ivins-molly\/2039\/<\/a><\/p>\n
The President as World Leader,<\/i> ch. 23 (1964)<\/p>\n
Parliament of Whores,<\/i> “The President” (1991)
http:\/\/wist.info\/orourke-pj\/34707\/<\/a><\/p>\n
Speech, New York (25 Jan 1932)
http:\/\/wist.info\/churchill-winston\/33224\/<\/a><\/p>\n
“The Last Days of the President: LBJ in Retirement,” Atlantic Monthly<\/i> (Jul 1973)
http:\/\/wist.info\/johnson-lyndon\/19554\/<\/a><\/p>\n
Nods and Becks<\/i> (1944)
http:\/\/wist.info\/adams-franklin-pierce\/35038\/<\/a><\/p>\n
Letter accepting Democratic nomination for President (8 Aug 1884)
http:\/\/wist.info\/cleveland-grover\/13167\/<\/a><\/p>\n
(Attributed)
http:\/\/wist.info\/ace-goodman\/32967\/<\/a><\/p>\n
Comment, after his presidential nomination acceptance speech, Chicago (18 Aug 1956)<\/p>\n
(Attributed)
http:\/\/wist.info\/bismark-otto-von\/1041\/<\/a><\/p>\n
Talk About America,<\/i> ch. 6 (1981)<\/p>\n
Profiles in Courage,<\/i> Introduction (1956)
http:\/\/wist.info\/kennedy-john\/23769\/<\/a><\/p>\n
“Wanted, a Statesman!”, Old and New Magazine<\/i> (Dec 1870)
http:\/\/wist.info\/clarke-james-f\/27014\/<\/a><\/p>\n
Speech, Profiles in Courage Award Acceptance, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library (2001)
http:\/\/wist.info\/ford-gerald-r\/23405\/<\/a><\/p>\n
(Attributed)
http:\/\/wist.info\/stevenson-adlai-ewing\/9775\/<\/a><\/p>\n
Speech before Privy Council, Dublin (10 Jul 1790)
http:\/\/wist.info\/curran-john-philpot\/411\/<\/a><\/p>\n
Journal (Oct 1848)
http:\/\/wist.info\/emerson-ralph-waldo\/9231\/<\/a><\/p>\n
International Herald Tribune,<\/i> Paris (1 Aug. 1988)
http:\/\/wist.info\/gingrich-newt\/4894\/<\/a><\/p>\n
Annual Message to Congress (1 Dec 1862)
http:\/\/wist.info\/lincoln-abraham\/2535\/<\/a><\/p>\n
Address to the Massachusetts legislature (9 Jan 1961)
http:\/\/wist.info\/kennedy-john\/5580\/<\/a><\/p>\n
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