Politics Never Changes and Neither do Politicians

Over the course of human history, you'll find that our lives, and how they are run, haven't changed that much. Governments come and go, wars are fought, lives are lost, economies rise and fall, but one thing remains constant, Politicians, and how we feel about them. So, here are just a few thoughts that do stand the test of time.

These are not meant to be partisan - and most of these quotes preceded at least several of the previous administrations and some precede all of them.

We hang petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
~Aesop, Greek slave & fable author

Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.
~Plato, ancient Greek Philosopher

Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.
~Nikita Khrushchev, Russian Soviet politician

When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'm beginning to believe it
~Quoted in 'Clarence Darrow for the Defence' by Irving Stone.

Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel.
~John Quinton, American actor/writer

Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.
~Oscar Ameringer, "the Mark Twain of American Socialism."

I offered my opponents a deal: "if they stop telling lies about me, I will stop telling the truth about them".
~Adlai Stevenson, campaign speech, 1952.

A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country .
~Texas Guinan. 19th-century American businessman

I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians
~Charles de Gaulle, French general & politician

Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks
~Doug Larson (English middle-distance runner who won gold medals at the 1924 Olympic Games

A Government which robs Peter to pay Paul, can always depend on the support of Paul!
~ Will Rogers (1879- 1935)

I am reminded of a joke: What happens if a politician drowns in a river? That is pollution.
What happens if all of them drown? That is a solution!

I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two are lawyers and three or more are the government.
~John Adams (1735 - 1826)

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Government. But then I repeat myself.
Mark Twain (1835- 1910)