--- title: "10 Political Reality Quotes by 10 authors" description: "Browse 10 Political Reality quotes by 10 authors. Discover the best Political Reality sayings and thoughts." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/228/christopher-miller-17494_cool_that-was-the-political-reality-of-1987-s_1401112.jpg" --- > [That was the political reality of 1987: Saxophones made you cool. That's real! That really happened in our society!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-miller/that-was-the-political-reality-of-1987-saxophones-made-you-cool-that/) [Christopher Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-miller/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/228/christopher-miller-17494_cool_that-was-the-political-reality-of-1987-s_1401112.jpg) > [Color is not a human or a personal reality it is a political reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/color-is-not-a-human-or-a-personal-reality-it-is-a-political-reality/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/683/james-a-baldwin-2080_color_color-is-not-a-human-or-a-personal-reali_2753811.jpg) > [“The 'smoke-filled room' as political reality is now as dead as Prohibition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-h-white/the-smoke-filled-room-as-political-reality-is-now-as-dead-as/) [Theodore H. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-h-white/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dff/theodore-h-white-35535_politics_the-smoke-filled-room-as-political-reali_817076.jpg) > [There are realities that one needs to deal with, but very often what we are told is political reality is merely cynicism.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/there-are-realities-that-one-needs-to-deal-with-but-very-often-what/) [Payam Akhavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payam-akhavan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b79/payam-akhavan-33674_cynicism_there-are-realities-that-one-needs-to-de_2759477.jpg) > [I think the political reality for the Democratic Party is, you know, there are two sides. There's one side saying that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hickenlooper/i-think-the-political-reality-for-the-democratic-party-is-you-know/) [John Hickenlooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hickenlooper/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6c/john-hickenlooper-2400_democratic_i-think-the-political-reality-for-the-de_1105543.png) > [Going to any place that you view as more politically oppressed than your own country, there's a weird tendency to assume that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jeremiah-sullivan/going-to-any-place-that-you-view-as-more-politically-oppressed-than/) [John Jeremiah Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jeremiah-sullivan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/547/john-jeremiah-sullivan-19344_any_going-to-any-place-that-you-view-as-more_3065949.jpg) > [At 19, I basically held the position that if you were intellectually honest and really wanted to get in touch with political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-metzinger/at-19-i-basically-held-the-position-that-if-you-were-intellectually/) [Thomas Metzinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-metzinger/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/286/thomas-metzinger-13958_gas_at-19-i-basically-held-the-position-that_129221.png) > [A writer must face up to the test of reality, including political reality, and that can't be done if he keeps his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/a-writer-must-face-up-to-the-test-of-reality-including-political/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f7/gunter-grass-3046_distance_a-writer-must-face-up-to-the-test-of-rea_1668171.png) > [“There’s a curious courage to them both: they believe in a political reality which is utterly terrifying, and they’re fighting it. Joe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-harkaway/there-s-a-curious-courage-to-them-both-they-believe-in-a-political/) [Nick Harkaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-harkaway/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/060/nick-harkaway-4221_courage_there-s-a-curious-courage-to-them-both-t_2551086.png) > [There's a certain advantage to living in a small country like Guatemala, I think. You don't feel so distant from political reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francisco-goldman/there-s-a-certain-advantage-to-living-in-a-small-country-like/) [Francisco Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francisco-goldman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/francisco-goldman-19172_audience_there-s-a-certain-advantage-to-living-in_1063422.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-reality/#itemlist", "name": "Political Reality Quotes", "numberOfItems": 10, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That was the political reality of 1987: Saxophones made you cool. That's real! 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Baldwin" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/color-is-not-a-human-or-a-personal-reality-it-is-a-political-reality/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/683/james-a-baldwin-2080_color_color-is-not-a-human-or-a-personal-reali_2753811.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/683/james-a-baldwin-2080_color_color-is-not-a-human-or-a-personal-reali_2753811.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/683/james-a-baldwin-2080_color_color-is-not-a-human-or-a-personal-reali_2753811.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Color is not a human or a personal reality it is a political reality.” — James A. Baldwin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The 'smoke-filled room' as political reality is now as dead as Prohibition.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Theodore H. White" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-h-white/the-smoke-filled-room-as-political-reality-is-now-as-dead-as/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dff/theodore-h-white-35535_politics_the-smoke-filled-room-as-political-reali_817076.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dff/theodore-h-white-35535_politics_the-smoke-filled-room-as-political-reali_817076.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dff/theodore-h-white-35535_politics_the-smoke-filled-room-as-political-reali_817076.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The 'smoke-filled room' as political reality is now as dead as Prohibition.” — Theodore H. White", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are realities that one needs to deal with, but very often what we are told is political reality is merely cynicism. One could equally say that slavery is a reality, and misogyny too.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Payam Akhavan" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payam-akhavan/there-are-realities-that-one-needs-to-deal-with-but-very-often-what/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b79/payam-akhavan-33674_cynicism_there-are-realities-that-one-needs-to-de_2759477.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b79/payam-akhavan-33674_cynicism_there-are-realities-that-one-needs-to-de_2759477.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b79/payam-akhavan-33674_cynicism_there-are-realities-that-one-needs-to-de_2759477.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are realities that one needs to deal with, but very often what we are told is political reality is…” — Payam Akhavan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think the political reality for the Democratic Party is, you know, there are two sides. There's one side saying that we weren't liberal enough and another side saying we're too liberal. I think they're both right.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Hickenlooper" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hickenlooper/i-think-the-political-reality-for-the-democratic-party-is-you-know/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6c/john-hickenlooper-2400_democratic_i-think-the-political-reality-for-the-de_1105543.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6c/john-hickenlooper-2400_democratic_i-think-the-political-reality-for-the-de_1105543.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6c/john-hickenlooper-2400_democratic_i-think-the-political-reality-for-the-de_1105543.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think the political reality for the Democratic Party is, you know, there are two sides. There's one side…” — John Hickenlooper", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Going to any place that you view as more politically oppressed than your own country, there's a weird tendency to assume that the whole existence is determined minute by minute by the political reality, but of course, that's not the case for any of us.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Jeremiah Sullivan" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jeremiah-sullivan/going-to-any-place-that-you-view-as-more-politically-oppressed-than/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/547/john-jeremiah-sullivan-19344_any_going-to-any-place-that-you-view-as-more_3065949.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/547/john-jeremiah-sullivan-19344_any_going-to-any-place-that-you-view-as-more_3065949.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/547/john-jeremiah-sullivan-19344_any_going-to-any-place-that-you-view-as-more_3065949.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Going to any place that you view as more politically oppressed than your own country, there's a weird…” — John Jeremiah Sullivan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "At 19, I basically held the position that if you were intellectually honest and really wanted to get in touch with political reality then you had to smell tear-gas.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Metzinger" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-metzinger/at-19-i-basically-held-the-position-that-if-you-were-intellectually/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/286/thomas-metzinger-13958_gas_at-19-i-basically-held-the-position-that_129221.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/286/thomas-metzinger-13958_gas_at-19-i-basically-held-the-position-that_129221.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/286/thomas-metzinger-13958_gas_at-19-i-basically-held-the-position-that_129221.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“At 19, I basically held the position that if you were intellectually honest and really wanted to get in…” — Thomas Metzinger", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A writer must face up to the test of reality, including political reality, and that can't be done if he keeps his distance. A literary style cultivated like a hothouse plant may show a certain artificial purity, but it won't really be pure.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gunter Grass" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/a-writer-must-face-up-to-the-test-of-reality-including-political/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f7/gunter-grass-3046_distance_a-writer-must-face-up-to-the-test-of-rea_1668171.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f7/gunter-grass-3046_distance_a-writer-must-face-up-to-the-test-of-rea_1668171.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f7/gunter-grass-3046_distance_a-writer-must-face-up-to-the-test-of-rea_1668171.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A writer must face up to the test of reality, including political reality, and that can't be done if he…” — Gunter Grass", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There’s a curious courage to them both: they believe in a political reality which is utterly terrifying, and they’re fighting it. Joe is never sure whether they’re mad or just alarmingly and uncompromisingly incapable of self-delusion.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nick Harkaway" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-harkaway/there-s-a-curious-courage-to-them-both-they-believe-in-a-political/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/060/nick-harkaway-4221_courage_there-s-a-curious-courage-to-them-both-t_2551086.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/060/nick-harkaway-4221_courage_there-s-a-curious-courage-to-them-both-t_2551086.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/060/nick-harkaway-4221_courage_there-s-a-curious-courage-to-them-both-t_2551086.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There’s a curious courage to them both: they believe in a political reality which is utterly terrifying, and…” — Nick Harkaway", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There's a certain advantage to living in a small country like Guatemala, I think. You don't feel so distant from political reality there. When things happen, they almost seem to happen on a Shakespearian stage with the audience so close they can become actors too. This is partly what Joseph Brodsky meant when he wrote that small countries have big politics.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Francisco Goldman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francisco-goldman/there-s-a-certain-advantage-to-living-in-a-small-country-like/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/francisco-goldman-19172_audience_there-s-a-certain-advantage-to-living-in_1063422.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/francisco-goldman-19172_audience_there-s-a-certain-advantage-to-living-in_1063422.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/965/francisco-goldman-19172_audience_there-s-a-certain-advantage-to-living-in_1063422.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There's a certain advantage to living in a small country like Guatemala, I think. You don't feel so distant…” — Francisco Goldman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-reality/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-reality/", "name": "Political Reality Quotes", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-reality/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/228/christopher-miller-17494_cool_that-was-the-political-reality-of-1987-s_1401112.jpg" }, "description": "Browse 10 Political Reality quotes by 10 authors. 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