--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A politician is a statesman who…" description: "\"A politician is a statesman who approaches every question with an open mouth.\" — Adlai E. Stevenson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89e/adlai-e-stevenson-9902_open-mouth_a-politician-is-a-statesman-who-approach_795765.jpg" --- # A politician is a statesman who approaches every question… ![“A politician is a statesman who approaches every question with an open mouth.” quote by Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89e/adlai-e-stevenson-9902_open-mouth_a-politician-is-a-statesman-who-approach_795765.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89e/adlai-e-stevenson-9902_open-mouth_a-politician-is-a-statesman-who-approach_795765.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89e/adlai-e-stevenson-9902_open-mouth_a-politician-is-a-statesman-who-approach_795765.jpg) > “A politician is a statesman who approaches every question with an open mouth.” [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A politician who answers every question without thought shows lack of substance and transparency. **In simple terms:** Politicians should answer thoughtfully, not just speak. Key Takeaway Demand thoughtful, honest answers from leaders. Themes politics communication leadership Mood critical skeptical Type analysis political commentary When to use this quote - elections - debates - policy discussions Key Concepts integrity public discourse Questions to Reflect On - How can voters assess a politician’s depth? - What role does media play in exposing empty rhetoric? A Different Perspective Some may argue openness can reveal ignorance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Open mouth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/open-mouth/) [Politician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politician/) [Politician Statesman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politician-statesman-785405/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Statesman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/statesman/) [Statesman Approaches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/statesman-approaches-6102129/) [Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trump/) ## Related quotes > [A man who is a politician at forty is a statesman at three score and ten. It is at this age, when he would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-who-is-a-politician-at-forty-is-a-statesman-at-three-score-and-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A statesman is a politician who places himself at the service of the nation. A politician is a statesman who places the nation at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-pompidou/a-statesman-is-a-politician-who-places-himself-at-the-service-of-the/) [Georges Pompidou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-pompidou/) > [“A man who is a politician at forty is a statesman at three score and ten. It is at this age, when he would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/a-man-who-is-a-politician-at-forty-is-a-statesman-at-three-score-and/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [There's a certain clubbiness to the idea that you're an ex-president. You're no longer a politician. You're a statesman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dallek/there-s-a-certain-clubbiness-to-the-idea-that-you-re-an-ex-president/) [Robert Dallek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dallek/) > [A politician before he can become a statesman has to remain in office long enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manmohan-singh/a-politician-before-he-can-become-a-statesman-has-to-remain-in-office/) [Manmohan Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manmohan-singh/) > [There is a difference between the typical politician and the statesman. A typical politician is that person who tells people what people want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scar-arias/there-is-a-difference-between-the-typical-politician-and-the/) [Óscar Arias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scar-arias/) > [The difference between a politician and a statesman is that a politician thinks about the next election while the statesman think about the next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-difference-between-a-politician-and-a-statesman-is-that-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A statesman is a politician who has been dead ten or fifteen years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman-2/a-statesman-is-a-politician-who-has-been-dead-ten-or-fifteen-years/) [Harry S Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman-2/) > [Self-reliance can turn a salesman into a merchant; a politician into a statesman; an attorney into a jurist; an unknown youth into a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newell-dwight-hillis/self-reliance-can-turn-a-salesman-into-a-merchant-a-politician-into-a/) [Newell Dwight Hillis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newell-dwight-hillis/) > [“A shambling, hairy, brutish, but probably very cunning creature with a big brain behind; so someone, I think it was Sir Harry Johnston, has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells-2/a-shambling-hairy-brutish-but-probably-very-cunning-creature-with-a/) [H.G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells-2/) > [The very name of a politician, a statesman, is sure to cause terror and hatred; it has always connected with it the ideas of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-very-name-of-a-politician-a-statesman-is-sure-to-cause-terror-and/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Some people approach every problem with an open mouth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/some-people-approach-every-problem-with-an-open-mouth/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [A politician is a person with whose politics you don't agree; if you agree with him he's a statesman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lloyd-george/a-politician-is-a-person-with-whose-politics-you-don-t-agree-if-you/) [David Lloyd George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lloyd-george/) > [The three great ends which a statesman ought to propose to himself in the government of a nation, are 1. Security to possessors; 2.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/the-three-great-ends-which-a-statesman-ought-to-propose-to-himself-in/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [He is almost a statesman. He lies well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/he-is-almost-a-statesman-he-lies-well/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) ## More by Adlai E. Stevenson > [“She would rather light candles than curse the darkness and her glow has warmed the world. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/she-would-rather-light-candles-than-curse-the-darkness-and-her-glow/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [The relationship of the toastmaster to speaker should be the same as that of the fan to the fan dancer. It should call attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/the-relationship-of-the-toastmaster-to-speaker-should-be-the-same-as/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [You can tell the size of a man by the size of the thing that makes him mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/you-can-tell-the-size-of-a-man-by-the-size-of-the-thing-that-makes/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [We travel together, passengers on a little spaceship, dependent on it's vulnerable reserves of air and soil, all committed, for our safety, to it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/we-travel-together-passengers-on-a-little-spaceship-dependent-on-it-s/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/when-an-american-says-that-he-loves-his-country-he-means-not-only/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [If the Republicans will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/if-the-republicans-will-stop-telling-lies-about-the-democrats-we-will/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [“In America, anyone can become president. That's one of the risks you take.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/in-america-anyone-can-become-president-that-s-one-of-the-risks-you/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [It will be helpful in our mutual objective to allow every man in America to look his neighbor in the face and see a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/it-will-be-helpful-in-our-mutual-objective-to-allow-every-man-in/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [The idea that you can merchandise candidates for high office like breakfast cereal - that you can gather votes like box tops - is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/the-idea-that-you-can-merchandise-candidates-for-high-office-like/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [Do you know the difference between a beautiful woman and a charming one? A beauty is a woman you notice, a charmer is one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/do-you-know-the-difference-between-a-beautiful-woman-and-a-charming/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [There is a spiritual hunger in the world today - and it cannot be satisfied by better cars on longer credit terms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/there-is-a-spiritual-hunger-in-the-world-today-and-it-cannot-be/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [And all our troubles, all our immense difficulties, now and in the future, can I say, be solved if we have the will, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/and-all-our-troubles-all-our-immense-difficulties-now-and-in-the/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [Nothing so dates a man as to decry the younger generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/nothing-so-dates-a-man-as-to-decry-the-younger-generation/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [What a man knows at fifty that he did not know at twenty is for the most part incommunicable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/what-a-man-knows-at-fifty-that-he-did-not-know-at-twenty-is-for-the/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [Communism is the corruption of a dream of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/communism-is-the-corruption-of-a-dream-of-justice/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) [Explore all 68 Adlai E. Stevenson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) ## More Open mouth quotes > [What we need as Christians is to be able to feed ourselves. How many there are who sit helpless and listless, with open mouths,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-we-need-as-christians-is-to-be-able-to-feed-ourselves-how-many/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Open your ears before you open your mouth, it may surprise your eyes!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/open-your-ears-before-you-open-your-mouth-it-may-surprise-your-eyes/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [It is amazing that every time you open your mouth- you tell lie after lie! You lie so much, that it is now your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/varsha-sharma/it-is-amazing-that-every-time-you-open-your-mouth-you-tell-lie-after/) [Varsha Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/varsha-sharma/) > [“Decebel looked over at Fane. "A face tu fiecare a lua ce ei say?(Do you ever get what they say?)" Fane smiled at his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quinn-loftis/decebel-looked-over-at-fane-a-face-tu-fiecare-a-lua-ce-ei-say-do-you/) [Quinn Loftis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quinn-loftis/) > [“I know Jojo is innocent because I can read it in the unmarked swell of him: his smooth face, ripe with baby fat; his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-know-jojo-is-innocent-because-i-can-read-it-in-the-unmarked-swell/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [Keep your mouth shut, and close up the doors of sight and sound, and as long as you live you will have no vexation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/keep-your-mouth-shut-and-close-up-the-doors-of-sight-and-sound-and-as/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [“He needed me to speak, because his heart hurt, too. I didn’t want to be mean, but sometimes, it was dangerous to open my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryn-greenwood/he-needed-me-to-speak-because-his-heart-hurt-too-i-didn-t-want-to-be/) [Bryn Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryn-greenwood/) > [“Did you forgive her?" I looked at her with a start. Jack dropped his salad back in the bucket. "What?" "Did you forgive Nikki?"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brodi-ashton/did-you-forgive-her-i-looked-at-her-with-a-start-jack-dropped-his/) [Brodi Ashton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brodi-ashton/) > [“Here are 5 reasons you want to think before you open your mouth:- First of all, you are not perfect; it’s just as possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-whitmore/here-are-5-reasons-you-want-to-think-before-you-open-your-mouth-first/) [T. Whitmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-whitmore/) > [Life is more fun when you open your mouth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-strauss/life-is-more-fun-when-you-open-your-mouth/) [Neil Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-strauss/) > [People who know me know that I'm not going to open my mouth and say something if I don't mean it. I'm very short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-ward/people-who-know-me-know-that-i-m-not-going-to-open-my-mouth-and-say/) [Andre Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-ward/) > [“Levering up, he stole another kiss and trailed his open mouth across Jamie’s cheek to his ear. “I need you.” Jamie”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/layla-reyne/levering-up-he-stole-another-kiss-and-trailed-his-open-mouth-across/) [Layla Reyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/layla-reyne/) > [“You know you look good if you can make a gay man open his mouth and then snap it shut.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-spiegel/you-know-you-look-good-if-you-can-make-a-gay-man-open-his-mouth-and/) [Leah Spiegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-spiegel/) > [I just open my mouth and out it comes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billie-joe-armstrong/i-just-open-my-mouth-and-out-it-comes/) [Billie Joe Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billie-joe-armstrong/) > [“Before she knew it the afternoon was done, and the trainees were taking their new mounts to the stables for grooming. Daine, Onua, Buri,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamora-pierce/before-she-knew-it-the-afternoon-was-done-and-the-trainees-were/) [Tamora Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamora-pierce/) [Browse all 224 Open mouth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/open-mouth/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A politician is a statesman who approaches every question with an open mouth.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adlai E. 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