I'm not an old, experienced hand at politics. But I am now seasoned enough to have learned that the hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning.
quote by Adlai E. Stevenson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
The hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning.
quote by Theodor W. Adorno
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy! | In Romanian
Children of Our Age
We are children of our age,
it's a political age.
All day long, all through the night,
all affairs--yours, ours, theirs--
are political affairs.
Whether you like it or not,
your genes have a political past,
your skin, a political cast,
your eyes, a political slant.
Whatever you say reverberates,
whatever you don't say speaks for itself.
So either way you're talking politics.
Even when you take to the woods,
you're taking political steps
on political grounds.
Apolitical poems are also political,
and above us shines a moon
no longer purely lunar.
To be or not to be, that is the question.
And though it troubles the digestion
it's a question, as always, of politics.
To acquire a political meaning
you don't even have to be human.
Raw material will do,
or protein feed, or crude oil,
or a conference table whose shape
was quarreled over for months;
Should we arbitrate life and death
at a round table or a square one?
Meanwhile, people perished,
animals died,
houses burned,
and the fields ran wild
just as in times immemorial
and less political.
poem by Wislawa Szymborska
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
Vote! | Copy!
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.
quote by George Orwell
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I have no political aspirations, although a lot of people believe that politics and acting go hand in hand.
Politics
in this country of mine
there is so much politicking
they want to know my color
they want me black
pure black
the other side wants me to be white
unadulterated white
i tell them i want to have no color at all
i just want to be myself
like a neutral transparent rain water
and all of them are angry
i cannot please everybody i said
but they do not listen
they put politics in the pulpit
in the market even in the cemetery
they put politics in the air and in the water
and in the soil
and even in the sub-soil
the worms are getting political too
and even the hawks and finches
the pebbles have no choice
but to go political too
they are now in disagreement with the river
and the bamboo trees
there is chaos in the mountain
the waterfalls rage
and then politics eventually destroys the
ecosystem
and the heavens and the purgatory
now there is only hell.
this morning they put politics as breakfast on my table.
i decided finally not to eat any.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Goodbye
Sometimes...
What may be the best thing for you to do
Sometimes it the hardest thing for you to do
And thats real
Cause I know that I love you
I know how I feel about you
But I also know that don't make everything alright
And for that reason
I gotta say goodbye
Tell me have you ever been in a
Situation where the best thing you could do
Is the hardest thing you've ever done
But you try to do whats right
And I know that deep down inside
That I really wanna be there by your side
But I can't stand to see you cry
Not when its because of me
And its over
song performed by by Jagged Edge from Jagged Little Thrill
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Are You Experienced?
If you can just get your mind together
Uh-then come on across to me
Well hold hands and then well watch the sunrise
From the bottom of the sea
But first, are you experienced?
Uh-have you ever been experienced-uh?
Well, I have
(well) I know, I know, youll probably scream and cry
That your little world wont let you go
But who in your measly little world, (-uh)
Are you tryin to prove to that youre
Made out of gold and-uh, cant be sold
So-uh, are you experienced?
Have you ever been experienced? (-uh)
Well, I have
Uh, let me prove it to you, yeah
Trumpets and violins I can-uh, hear in the distance
I think theyre callin our name
Maybe now you cant hear them,
But you will, ha-ha, if you just
Take hold of my hand
Ohhh, but are you experienced?
Have you ever been experienced?
Not necessarily stoned, but beautiful
song performed by by Jimi Hendrix
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Sage Law Wisdom Learned
Universal law of life
respected wise people
knowledgeable wise
experienced seasoned
in wisdom life learned
Revered for wisdom
revered for good
judgement wisdom
long experience gained
really lifetime learned?
Sage law dictates
law of young born old
old soul life reborn
old soul new born
past lessons learned
Sixty at sixteen
pales beside wisdom
universal at five six
eyes watching
eye knowing
Eyes thinking
mind expanding
listening learning
absorbing time
prepare life purpose
poem by Terence George Craddock
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Politics is not about winning for the sake of winning.
quote by Paul Wellstone
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Some Say My Contributions Are Political
Some say my contributions are political.
With a point of view that is fixed.
But who is living to exist without religion,
Or politics?
And who believes there is an escape from this?
My writings are all about relationships.
Not one is disconnected from it.
Some may choose from their point of view,
To see a separateness.
But from where I sit,
If you are living you pay taxes...
All of it goes to the government.
And the only thing that is 'free'
Are delusions.
And even those have proven to be costly.
With some political attachment no one can deny!
Some say my contributions are political.
And I say to them...
'The point that you are making is...'what'?
And who lives not to make endorsements...
Of some kind! '
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you haven't really learned anything.
Muhammad Ali in Newspaper, Daily Herald
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I came into American politics and into this political system proud of politics and the way we make decisions.
quote by Byron Dorgan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.
quote by Muhammad Ali
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The Sound Of Wings.....
from the bars of the cell,
i learned freedom from the body.
from the underside of the bridge,
i learned home has not a house.
from forty years of working,
i learned the bitterness of the slave.
from the political lies,
i learned that truth cant be bought.
from the books i read,
i learned to reason and question.
from the heroin needle,
i learned the value of life.
from love lost,
i learned how to love.
from doubt i learned seeking,
in seeking i found god to be more.
from the scars on my heart,
i learned to be a man.
from battles fought and lost,
i learned the need for peace.
from discrimination i learned equality,
from anger i learned forgiveness.
from the mirror i learned responsibility...
from the bars of the cell,
i learned the sound of wings!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I've Learned To Keep Stress Away
What you say to me today,
May change tomorrow.
Or the next day.
And I know this.
Even if what you say,
Changes within the next sentence said...
To me it would not make a difference.
I've learned with your teachings,
To keep my feelings for you indifferent.
And the moment you open your mouth to speak...
I'm already prepared emotionally,
To keep myself distanced.
And that is why...
I have few questions to ask of you,
About what it is you do.
I've learned to keep stress away,
By a caring about or for you less.
And that is the most refreshing thing, .
Of late...
I have experienced to know,
What for me is best.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Australia's Federal Election 2007
November the twenty fourth is Australia's Election day the campaign for power begin
The winners govern for three years the prize is great to win
They have in them the lust for power they campaign for their own sake
The winners set to govern big egos are at stake.
Who wins or loses Government I can't say I much care
Since from the Election I don't stand to lose or gain of that much I'm aware
Big time politics can be a dirty game and smear politics is an in thing
On their opponents they rake the muck and their own praises they do sing.
Three right wing parties competing for power will not help those in poverty
A Nation without a Socialist Party seems a sad Nation to me
In a so called first World Country in big Cities homeless people on the street
Sleeping rough and searching rubbish bins for thrown out food to eat.
November the twenty fourth is Federal Election voting day and the days of cleanly fought campaigns is long gone
Twenty first century politics is a dirty game and the grab for power is on
The gap between the haves and the have nots is getting wider by the day
And whoever wins will not help the have nots and that seems sad to say.
poem by Francis Duggan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Unfortunately, money in politics is an insidious thing - and a loophole in our campaign finance system was taken advantage of with money going to existing or new 527 groups with the sole purpose of influencing the election.
quote by Olympia Snowe
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Poetry, Not Prose
Tom Friedman says that we need poetry, not prose,
to get this country into better shape.
Although we surely know a rose would be a rose
if called by any other name, a grape
becomes much more when sublimated into wine,
and politics don’t matter till its message
becomes poetic. Prose won’t help to make it shine,
and all predications politicians presage
won’t come to pass unless they’re elevated with
poetic language that shifts paradigms,
and brings into reality what seemed mere myth,
promoting the prosaic with its rhymes.
We need a narrative that we can memorize,
not complicated data on a chart,
and yearn for tuneful songs that we can harmonize,
and poems we love learning off by heart.
Inspired by an Op-Ed article by Thomas Friedman in the NYT, November 1,2009, exhorting President Obama to be more poetic (“More Poetry Please”) :
More and more lately, I find people asking me: What do you think President Obama really believes about this or that issue? I find that odd. How is it that a president who has taken on so many big issues, with very specific policies — and has even been awarded a Nobel Prize for all the hopes he has kindled — still has so many people asking what he really believes? I don’t think that President Obama has a communications problem, per se. He has given many speeches and interviews broadly explaining his policies and justifying their necessity. Rather, he has a “narrative” problem….
“Obama’s election marked a shift — from a politics that celebrated privatized concerns to a politics that recognized the need for effective government and larger public purposes. Across the political spectrum, people understood that national renewal requires big ambition, and a better kind of politics, ” said the Harvard political theorist Michael Sandel, author of the new best seller — “Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? ” — that calls for elevating our public discourse. But to deliver on that promise, Sandel added, Obama needs to carry the civic idealism of his campaign into his presidency. He needs a narrative that will get the same voters who elected him to push through his ambitious agenda — against all the forces of inertia and private greed. “You can’t get nation-building without shared sacrifice, ” said Sandel, “and you cannot inspire shared sacrifice without a narrative that appeals to the common good — a narrative that challenges us to be citizens engaged in a common endeavor, not just consumers seeking the best deal for ourselves. Obama needs to energize the prose of his presidency by recapturing the poetry of his campaign.”
11/1/09
poem by Gershon Hepner
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Hardest Part
And the hardest part
Was letting go not taking part
Was the hardest part
And the strangest thing
was waiting for that bell to ring
It was the strangest start
I could feel it go down
It is sweet I could taste in my mouth
Silver lining the clouds
Oh and I
I wish that I could work it out
And the hardest part
Was letting go not taking part
You really broke my heart
And I tried to sing
But I couldn't think of anything
That was the hardest part
I could feel it go down
You left the sweetest taste in my mouth
You're silver lining the clouds
Oh and I
Oh and I
I wonder what it's all about
I wonder what it's all about
Everything I know is wrong
Everything I do just comes undone
And everything is torn apart
Oh and it's the hardest part
That's the hardest part
Yeah that's the hardest part
That's the hardest part
song performed by by Coldplay
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The thing about American politics, as I've learned, is there is no choice.
quote by Rob Walton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!