Anti Political Quotes

• Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.

  George Orwell

  Witty, Peace, Truth

  "Politics and the English Language" (1946)

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• In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.

  George Orwell

  Birthday, Lying, Political Language

  George Orwell, Keith Gessen (2009). “All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays”, p.282, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• Politics is the art of making your selfish desires seem like the national interest.

  Thomas Sowell

  Art, Selfish, Patriotic

  Thomas Sowell (2013). “Ever Wonder Why?: and Other Controversial Essays”, p.328, Hoover Press

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• Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.

  Mark Twain

  Funny, Life, Sarcastic

  Quoted in Albert B. Paine, Mark Twain: A Biography (1912)

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  Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.

  Groucho Marx

  Art, Freedom, Political Will

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• It would be nice to spend billions on schools and roads, but right now that money is desperately needed for political ads.

  Andy Borowitz

  Funny, Money, Nice

  FaceBook post by Andy Borowitz from Jul 09, 2012

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• People who consider themselves political, who follow political developments most rigorously, are often those who view the political process with the greatest lack of perspective.

  Boyd Rice

  Views, People, Perspective

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• Continuing to believe the same thing, even in the face of new evidence to the contrary, is the definition of insanity - except in politics where it's called leadership.

  Scott Adams

  Believe, Political, Insanity

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• I am politically incorrect, that's true. Political correctness to me is just intellectual terrorism. I find that really scary, and I won't be intimidated into changing my mind. Everyone isn't going to love you all the time.

  Mel Gibson

  Love, Scary, Political

  Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

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• The typical citizen drops down to a lower level of mental performance as soon as he enters the political field. He argues and analyzes in a way which he would readily recognize as infantile within the sphere of his real interests. He becomes primitive again.

  Joseph A. Schumpeter

  Real, Political, Typical

  Joseph A. Schumpeter (2013). “Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy”, p.262, Routledge

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  Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Political Will, Greed, Nerd

  Ambrose Bierce (2009). “The Devil's Dictionary: Easyread Super Large 18pt Edition”, p.271, ReadHowYouWant.com

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• In daily life, reality gives us material incentives to restrain our irrationality. But what incentive do we have to think rationally about politics?

  Bryan Caplan

  Reality, Thinking, Giving

  Bryan Caplan (2008). “The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies (New Edition)”, p.206, Princeton University Press

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• The first lesson of economics is scarcity: there is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.

  Thomas Sowell

  Scarcity, Lessons, Politics

  Thomas Sowell (1993). “Is Reality Optional?: And Other Essays”, Hoover Inst Press

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• Politics, as any observer of the modern world knows, is the enemy of economics, everywhere and always.

  John Derbyshire

  Political, Enemy, World

  John Derbyshire (2009). “We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism”, p.234, Crown Forum

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• Political action involves mental vulgarity, not merely because it entails the occurrence and support of those who are mentally vulgar, but because of the simplification of human life implied in even the best of it purposes.

  Michael Joseph Oakeshott

  Support, Political, Purpose

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• Love, by its very nature, is unworldly, and it is for this reason rather than its rarity that it is not only apolitical but antipolitical, perhaps the most powerful of all antipolitical forces.

  Hannah Arendt

  Love, Peace, Powerful

  Hannah Arendt (2013). “The Human Condition: Second Edition”, p.242, University of Chicago Press

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• In politics we face the choice between warmongering, nation-state loving, big-business agents on one hand; and risk-blind, top-down, epistemic arrogant big servants of large employers on the other. But we have a choice.

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  Top Down, Hands, Choices

  Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2010). “The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms”, p.90, Random House

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• Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.

  Marion Barry

  Funny, Country, Crazy

  Quoted in Chicago Tribune, 28 Mar. 1989

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• It’s a revolution. But it’s the sort of revolution that no one will notice. It might get a little shadier. Buildings might function better. You might have less money to earn because your food is all around you and you don’t have any energy costs. Giant amounts of money might be freed up in society so that we can provide for ourselves better. So it’s a revolution. But permaculture is anti-political. There is no room for politicians or administrators or priests. And there are no laws either. The only ethics we obey are: care of the earth, care of people, and reinvestment in those ends.

  Bill Mollison

  Law, People, Political

  "Permaculture: A Quiet Revolution — An Interview with Bill Mollison". Interview with Scott London, www.scottlondon.com. 2005.

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• The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible.

  George Washington

  Political, Liberty, Connections

  George Washington, J. M. Williams (1800). “Washington's political legacies: To which is annexed an appendix, containing an account of his illness, death, and the national tributes of respect paid to his memory, with a biographical outline of his life and character”, p.90

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• The role of the scholar is to destroy chimeras, that of the statesman is to make use of them.

  Gustave Le Bon

  Political, Roles, Use

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  I think the Republican party should be placed in drydock and have the barnacles scraped off its bottom.

  Tallulah Bankhead

  Party, Thinking, America

  Tallulah Bankhead (1952). “Tallulah: My Autobiography”, p.282, Univ. Press of Mississippi

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• A sort of angry populism here in the UK and across Europe, a sort of anti-political mood and what then steps into that place? In one episode [of Black Mirror] you won't have seen, there's a very simple gaming gadget that turns out to be a monstrous idea, which I suspect we will end up doing for real.

  Charlie Brooker

  Real, Simple, Mirrors

  "The Man Behind Netflix’s “Black Mirror” Is Maybe a Little Too Good at Predicting the Future". Interview with Michael Mechanic, www.motherjones.com. October 14, 2016.

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• Biophobia is as much a part of a politician's basic equipment as a sharp suit.

  John Derbyshire

  Political, Suits, Politician

  John Derbyshire (2009). “We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism”, p.140, Crown Forum

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• If libertarianism were easy to explain, and it weren't easy to exaggerate the effects of libertarianism, I think it would have been done already. Many many very intelligent people have applied themselves to crafting an agenda that people could grab ahold of. But the problem of course is that libertarianism isn't political. It is kind of anti-political. It wants to take a lot of things out of the political arena.

  P. J. O'Rourke

  Intelligent, Thinking, People

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