Quotes Library

June 2, 2025

You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.

Mario Cuomo (1932–2015), American Democratic politician and governor, New Republic, Washington, D.C, 8 April 1985, Jay p.107

Do you? Can you even imagine governing in poetry?

Of course, voting is an emotional act, so the process of wooing the voter naturally involves something akin to the poetic or romantic. Government involves moving a massive enterprise forward, and that means dealing with every sort of prosaic problem.


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