One Disloyal Subject Keeps the Despot Sane

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Every despot must have one disloyal subject to keep him sane. – George Bernard Shaw




He who requires much from himself and little from others, will keep himself from being the object of resentment. – Confucius



A true leader always keeps an element of surprise up his sleeve, which others cannot grasp but which keeps his public excited and breathless. – Charles de Gaulle



Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers from which they dare not dismount. – Hindu Proverb



Kindness the most unkindest thing of all. – Edna O’Brien



Really great men have a curious feeling that the greatness is not in them but through them. – John Ruskin



The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators. – Edward Gibbon



A leader or a man of action in a crisis almost always acts subconsciously and then thinks of the reasons for his action. – Jawaharlal Nehru

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Governing With Buts

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Watch out for the fellow who talks about putting things in order! Putting things in order always means getting other people under your control. – Denis Diderot




One cannot govern with buts. – Charles de Gaulle



The common soldier’s blood makes the General great. – Italian proverb



The Pentagon is like a log going down the river with 25,000 ants on it, each thinking he’s steering. – Henry Rowan



Every director bites the hand that lays the golden egg. – Samuel Goldwyn



Those that are the loudest in their threats are the weakest in the execution of them. – Charles Caleb Colton



To govern is to make choices. – Duc de Levis

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Nothing is Comtemptible in Politics

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Give a politician a free hand and he will put it in your pocket. – anonymous




A politician divides mankind into two classes: tools and enemies. – friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche



A politician is an animal who can sit on a fence and yet keep both ears to the ground. – American proverb



In politics, nothing is contemptible. – Benjamin Disraeli



Since a politician never believes what he says, he is surprised when others believe him. – General Charles de Gaulle



Public office is the last refuge of the incompetent. – Boise Penrose

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The Art of Saying "Nice Doggie" Until You Can Find a Rock

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A politician should have three hats. One for throwing in the ring, one for talking through, and one for pulling rabbits out of if elected. – Carl Sandburg

A cardinal rule of politics is never get caught in bed with a live man or a dead woman. – Larry Hagman

Since a politician never believes what he says, he is surprised when others believe him. – Charles de Gaulle

Diplomacy it the art of saying “Nice doggie” until you can find a rock. – Will Rogers

Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt. – Herbert Hoover

Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself. – Mark Twain

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• Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered -- either by themselves or by others. (quotationsbook.com)