January 8, 2025

One of the little-celebrated powers of presidents (and other high government officials) is to listen to their critics with just enough sympathy to ensure their silence.

John Kenneth Galbraith, (1908-2006), Canadian-born American economist and ambassador, The Culture of Contentment (1992), Jay p.147

Are you even conscious of this “little-celebrated” power? Do you appreciate that it amounts to political gold? Have you used it yourself—as a parent, an employer, a friend?

The politician who learns this early in her career will be blessed in a way that those without an iota of sympathy for their critics will never appreciate.