Quotes Library

March 11, 2025

Finality is not the language of politics.

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), British writer, politician, prime minister, speech in the House of Commons, 28 Feb 1849, Seldes p.109

Does that not suggest that all change is incremental?

Politics is a slow-moving phenomenon and in liberal democratic societies the railway to finality is very long, with too many sidings where many a promising initiative can be parked for a long, long time, and often are.


More Quotes

November 7, 2025
Europeans often ask and Americans do not often explain, how it happens that this great office [the presidency]
December 14, 2025
No example is so dangerous, as that of violence employed by well-meaning people for beneficial objects.
December 8, 2025
Political skill [is] the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, next year.
Page 84 of 122