With the Sochi Winter Olympics well under way and the conduct of our global leaders and their policies firmly in the spotlight, I thought it'd be helpful to produce a guide to some abiding political principles, quotations and notes that aspiring politicians and politicos can use to make sense of the madcap crazy political world we live in. Enjoy.
PITY THE LITTLE PEOPLE
1.Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies
Groucho Marx
Well that sounds cynical
2.I myself know some people who are gay. We're on friendly terms.
Vladimir Putin, Russian President, on 'anti-gay' legislation to protect children
Oh, I see your point Groucho
3.The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries
Winston Churchill
I dare not say that this is connected to the previous statement
4.Suffer little children and come unto me
Evita Peron, Argentine First Lady
Eva extends an arm of optimism to the children
5.Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt
Herbert Hoover
Herbert takes it away again
6.Please do not touch the kids
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak's advice to gay Winter Olympic athletes
As I said, I see your point Groucho
7.When I was poor and I complained about inequality people said I was bitter, now I'm rich and I complain about inequality they say I'm a hypocrite
Russell Brand
I'm tempted to say they just don't like you Russell but I hear your point
8.I live in a neighbourhood so bad that you can get shot while getting shot
Chris Rock
9.I went to Zimbabwe. I know how white people feel in America now; relaxed! Cause when I heard the police car I knew they weren't coming after me!
Richard Pryor, on race, profiling and the perks of afro-American Zimbabwean tourism
STICK TO YOUR PRINCIPLES
10.Politics, noun. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage
Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
11.The president has kept all the promises he intended to keep
George Stephanopolous, Communications Director to Bill Clinton
Never let virtue get in the way of semantics
12.Now, I know that he's taken some flak lately but no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald. And that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter like where are Biggie and Tupac?'
President Obama, on Donald Trump at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner
13.We don't do God!
Alastair Campbell, Communications chief, quickly reminds Tony Blair not to mention his faith
I only wanted to know where Biggie and Tupac were
14.It's pity there isn't a hell for him to go to
Christopher Hitchens, Atheist, of a particular journalist
Not of Alastair Campbell although some in the British media have uttered similar. Adam Boulton?
15.I don't make predictions. I never have and never will.
Tony Blair, predicts he won't be making a prediction anytime soon
16.He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas better than any man I ever met
Abraham Lincoln, referring to a lawyer
The fact this appears below former lawyer Tony Blair is innocently unfortunate
17.The penalty of success is to be bored by people who used to snub you
Nancy Astor, on the joys of being the first female Member of Parliament
Eyes on the prize Nancy
LOVE THY MEDIA
18.Now is not the time for sound-bites. I can feel the hand of history on my shoulder
Tony Blair, signing the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement, April 1998
The media made sure this would haunt him for years to come
19.If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: 'President Can't Swim'
Lyndon Johnson
20.We don't do God!! [again]
Alastair Campbell, on walking on water
21.Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realise that it bears a very close resemblance to the first
Ronald Reagan
Reagan hated courting
22.The first time Adam had a chance, he laid the blame on women
Nancy Astor
When the cameras are rolling there is no gallantry Nancy
23.Television has made dictatorship impossible, but democracy unbearable
Shimon Peres, Israeli President laments
Unless you're a dictator that likes the limelight...
DON'T LET POWER CORRUPT YOU
24.The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste time voting
Charles Bukowski, US Writer
25.In the past months the people of Uganda have been following with sorrow the alarming economic crisis befalling on Britain
Dictator Idi Amin Dada, offers parcels of food and compassion to depression-hit Britain, 1974
26.Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt
Abraham Lincoln
Seems simple
27.I love to bring people into the Oval office and say, this is where I office
George W. Bush
OK, point taken Abraham
LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR
28.Democracy is the process by which people choose the man who'll get the blame
Bertrand Russell, British philosopher
29.Despise the enemy strategically, but take him seriously tactically.
Chairman Mao Zedong
Mao, never far from killing something
30.An ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination
Voltaire, French writer
Nice.
31.The difference between a misfortune and a calamity is this: If Gladstone fell into the Thames, it would be a misfortune. But if someone dragged him out again, that would be a calamity
Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister considers the assisted drowning of the opposition
32.In waking a tiger, use a long stick.
Mao Zedong
33.If God had intended us not to eat animals, how come he made them out of meat?
Sarah Palin, US politician evaluates Mao's words
34.One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.
Plato, Greek philosopher
See above. Must see Russell Brand about this...
35.Amigo! Amigo!
George W. Bush hails Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Spanish at G8 summit
36.A fool and his money are soon elected
Will Rogers
See above
37.If ignorance goes to $40 a barrel. I want drilling rights to George Bush's head.
Jim Hightower, US political activist on George Bush Snr
See above
38.A man may fight for many things. His country, his principles, his friends. The glistening tear on the cheek of a golden child. But personally, I'd mud-wrestle my own mother for a ton of cash, an amusing clock and a sack of French porn.
Edmund Blackadder on the art of selflessness and expenses filing
That just about covers it.
Happy Politicking.
Cartoon images under creative commons licence from DonkeyHotey http://www.flickr.com/photos/donkeyhotey/
Other images adapted by author from publicly available WikiCommons Images. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Images