Decide on some imperfect Somebody and you will win, because the truest truism in politics is: You can't beat Somebody with Nobody. — William Safire Copy Share Image
When your government, employer, landlord, merchant, banker and local sports team gang up to picture, digitize and permanently record your every activity,… — William Safire Copy Share Image
I want my questions answered by an alert and experienced politician, prepared to be grilled and quoted -- not my hand held… — William Safire Copy Share Image
Gridlock is great. My motto is, 'Don't just do something. Stand there.' — William Safire Copy Share Image
The new, old, and constantly changing language of politics is a lexicon of conflict and drama?ridicule and reproach?pleading and persuasion. — William Safire Copy Share Image
You don't want lopsided government. You don't want one side running roughshod over the other. — William Safire Copy Share Image
[Senators John Kerry & John Edwards] have risen high in Democratic polls with a brand of class resentment and soak-the-rich rhetoric rooted… — William Safire Copy Share Image
To 'know your place' is a good idea in politics. That is not to say 'stay in your place' or 'hang on… — William Safire Copy Share Image
President Reagan is a rhetorical roundheels, as befits a politician seeking empathy with his audience. — William Safire Copy Share Image
Decide on some imperfect Somebody and you will win, because the truest truism in politics is: You can't beat Somebody with Nobody. — William Safire Copy Share Image
Knowing how things work is the basis for appreciation, and is thus a source of civilized delight. — William Safire Copy Share Image
What do you call a co-worker these days? Neither teammate nor confederate will do, and partner is too legalistic. The answer brought from academia… — William Safire Copy Share Image
This is what it's all about. From what I could see, you could get a bunch of people together, whip up the press and… — William Safire Copy Share Image
When I need to know the meaning of a word, I look it up in a dictionary. — William Safire Copy Share Image
A man who lies, thinking it is the truth, is an honest man, and a man who tells the truth, believing it to be… — William Safire Copy Share Image
The Latin motto over Poindexter's new Pentagon office reads Scientia Est Potentia - "knowledge is power." Exactly: the government's infinite knowledge about you is… — William Safire Copy Share Image
Today, war of necessity is used by critics of military action to describe unavoidable response to an attack like that on Pearl Harbor that… — William Safire Copy Share Image