If I die a violent death, as some fear and a few are plotting, I know that the violence will be in the thought and the action of the assassins, not in my dying.
Indira GandhiRead
Politics is the art of acquiring, holding, and wielding power.
Interpretation
Politics involves the strategic management of power and influence.
Indira Gandhi's quote emphasizes that politics is not merely a process but an art form characterized by the skills needed to acquire, maintain, and effectively use power. It suggests that successful political engagement requires not just knowledge, but also a nuanced understanding of human behavior and strategic thinking.
In practice
In a debate about governance, one might say 'As Indira Gandhi stated, politics is the art of acquiring, holding, and wielding power, highlighting the complexities of leadership.'
If I die a violent death, as some fear and a few are plotting, I know that the violence will be in the thought and the action of the assassins, not in my dying.
You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.
All my games were political games; I was, like Joan of Arc, perpetually being burned at the stake.
The power to question is the basis of all human progress.
My father was a statesman, I'm a political woman. My father was a saint. I'm not.
People with clenched fists can not shake hands.
The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.
Thomas Jefferson once said: 'Of course the people don't want war. But the people can be brought to the bidding of their leader. All you have to do is tell them they're being attacked and denounce the pacifists for somehow a lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.' I think that was Jefferson. Oh wait. That was Hermann Goering. Shoot." [Hosting the Peabody Awards for broadcasting excellence at the New York Waldorf-Astoria, June 6, 2006]
The constitution has broken down. We have no enemies except the ones we select and direct towards the nearest nuclear bombs. They need an enemy to provoke, a diversion. This is the mentality of tenth-rate people who are in politics because corporate America likes them. They are malleable. They give them contracts to build missile shields that will never work. It's deeply corrupt.
Optimism comes less easily today, not because democracy is less vigorous, but because democracy's enemies have refined their instruments of repression.
Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.
$100,000 donors buy access to Congress and the White House. We believe it's long past time to clean up Washington.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.