Statesman Quotes

Now I know what a statesman is; he's a dead politician. We need more statesmen.

He was what I often think is a dangerous thing for a statesman to be - a student of history; and like most of those who study history, he learned from the mistakes of the past how to make new ones.

Conservative, n: A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal who wishes to replace them with others.

It is only natural that for any statesman at the helm of any government the question of his country's security should be a concern of the utmost importance.

What the statesman is most anxious to produce is a certain moral character in his fellow citizens, namely a disposition to virtue and the performance of virtuous actions.

You know, a statesman is a dead politician.

At home, you always have to be a politician; when you're abroad, you almost feel yourself a statesman.

When you're out of office, you can be a statesman.

Nelson Mandela is, for me, the single statesman in the world. The single statesman, in that literal sense, who is not solving all his problems with guns. It's truly unbelievable.

A statesman wants courage and a statesman wants vision; but believe me, after six months' experience, he wants first, second, third and all the time - patience.

The statesman's duty is to bridge the gap between his nation's experience and his vision.

My father was a statesman, I am a political woman. My father was a saint. I am not.

The opposition is indispensable. A good statesman, like any other sensible human being, always learns more from his opposition than from his fervent supporters.

A statesman who keeps his ear permanently glued to the ground will have neither elegance of posture nor flexibility of movement.

The true statesman is the one who is willing to take risks.

It is neither the statesman nor the friend who is asking your help and assistance, but simply the man.

A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation.

A disposition to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman.

To be a statesman, you must first get elected.

He's passed from rising hope to elder statesman without any intervening period whatsoever.

I think it better that in times like these a poet's mouth be silent, for in truth we have no gift to set a statesman right.

A statesman, we are told, should follow public opinion. Doubtless, as a coachman follows his horses; having firm hold on the reins and guiding them.

A statesman cannot afford to be a moralist.

The statesman shears the sheep; the politician skins them.

The same contingencies of time and space that force a statesman or soldier to make decisions, impel the historian, though with less urgency, to make up his mind.

A politician is a man who understands government. A statesman is a politician who's been dead for 15 years.

War is the statesman's game, the priest's delight, the lawyer's jest, the hired assassin's trade.

You can always get the truth from an American statesman after he has turned seventy, or given up all hope of the Presidency.

Today America lost a great elder statesman, a committed public servant, and leader of the Senate. And today I lost a treasured friend. Ted Kennedy was an iconic, larger than life United States senator whose influence cannot be overstated. Many have come before, and many will come after, but Ted Kennedy's name will always be remembered as someone who lived and breathed the United States Senate and the work completed within its chamber.

If there is not the war, you don't get the great general; if there is not a great occasion, you don't get a great statesman; if Lincoln had lived in a time of peace, no one would have known his name.