--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Even in Poland, where the president is…" description: "\"Even in Poland, where the president is far less powerful than the prime minister, people have a deeper and more atavistic relationship with the person ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e21/anne-applebaum-2544_head-of-state_even-in-poland-where-the-president-is-fa_1563904.png" --- # Even in Poland, where the president is far less powerful… ![“Even in Poland, where the president is far less powerful than the prime minister, people have a deeper and more atavistic relationship with the person who is a serious contender to become head of state. They want their national leader - the tribal chief - to look like them, to live like them, to…” quote by Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e21/anne-applebaum-2544_head-of-state_even-in-poland-where-the-president-is-fa_1563904.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e21/anne-applebaum-2544_head-of-state_even-in-poland-where-the-president-is-fa_1563904.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e21/anne-applebaum-2544_head-of-state_even-in-poland-where-the-president-is-fa_1563904.png) > “Even in Poland, where the president is far less powerful than the prime minister, people have a deeper and more atavistic relationship with the person who is a serious contender to become head of state. They want their national leader - the tribal chief - to look like them, to live like them, to reflect their values.” [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People prefer leaders who resemble them and share their everyday values, reflecting a tribal, identity‑based desire for representation. **In simple terms:** Leaders should mirror the people they serve. Key Takeaway Seek leaders who embody common values. Themes politics identity leadership representation Mood analytical thoughtful Type political social When to use this quote - elections - community meetings - public debates - policy discussions Key Concepts sociology political theory cultural anthropology Questions to Reflect On - How does similarity affect trust? - When should competence outweigh resemblance? A Different Perspective Ideal leaders may not always be the most effective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Head of state](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/head-of-state/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) [Prime minister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prime-minister/) [Relationship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relationship/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [Definitely, a non-tribal can become chief minister in Jharkhand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kariya-munda/definitely-a-non-tribal-can-become-chief-minister-in-jharkhand/) Kariya Munda > [The American official was trying to talk about aid and development projects and finally a local tribal chief got up and said, "Even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yaroslav-trofimov/the-american-official-was-trying-to-talk-about-aid-and-development/) [Yaroslav Trofimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yaroslav-trofimov/) > [I am not a national leader. If I am a national leader I can speak out all that I want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ban-ki-moon/i-am-not-a-national-leader-if-i-am-a-national-leader-i-can-speak-out/) [Ban Ki-moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ban-ki-moon/) > [We also want to make sure Penn State becomes a national leader in this whole area of child abuse prevention and treatment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-erickson/we-also-want-to-make-sure-penn-state-becomes-a-national-leader-in/) [Rodney Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-erickson/) > [After Trump, how can we credibly say that our process for choosing a national leader yields the best possible result, or even someone capable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-reid/after-trump-how-can-we-credibly-say-that-our-process-for-choosing-a/) [Joy Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-reid/) > [Clearly, the qualities Poles admire in a secretary of state - foreign languages, diplomatic experience, even sense of humor - are emphatically not those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/clearly-the-qualities-poles-admire-in-a-secretary-of-state-foreign/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [The efficiency of a truly national leader consists primarily in preventing the division of the attention of a people, and always in concentrating it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-efficiency-of-a-truly-national-leader-consists-primarily-in/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [The opponents of Mr. Modi can never change the mind of the people who have accepted and adored him as a statesman and national…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suresh-gopi/the-opponents-of-mr-modi-can-never-change-the-mind-of-the-people-who/) [Suresh Gopi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suresh-gopi/) > [As governor, I'll work to make New Mexico a national leader in clean energy by moving to renewable energies such as solar and wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-lujan-grisham/as-governor-i-ll-work-to-make-new-mexico-a-national-leader-in-clean/) [Michelle Lujan Grisham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-lujan-grisham/) > [I worked at SEIU as a national leader for our security officers's organizing campaign.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laphonza-butler/i-worked-at-seiu-as-a-national-leader-for-our-security-officers-s/) [Laphonza Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laphonza-butler/) > [New York can be a national leader on LGBTQ+ rights and protections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-adams/new-york-can-be-a-national-leader-on-lgbtq-rights-and-protections/) [Eric Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-adams/) > [The world needs someone to look up to-like you. A national leader remarked, "There comes a time when we must take a stand-when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-b-haight/the-world-needs-someone-to-look-up-to-like-you-a-national-leader/) [David B. Haight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-b-haight/) > [If every head of state and every government official spent an hour a day reading poetry we'd live in a much more humane and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/if-every-head-of-state-and-every-government-official-spent-an-hour-a/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [My ascension as interim president is based on Article 233 of the Venezuelan Constitution, according to which, if at the outset of a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-guaido/my-ascension-as-interim-president-is-based-on-article-233-of-the/) [Juan Guaido](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-guaido/) > [“As the tail on our back disappeared as we no longer had any use for it, nuclear weapons will also disappear once we realize,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/as-the-tail-on-our-back-disappeared-as-we-no-longer-had-any-use-for/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) ## More by Anne Applebaum > [Quite a lot has been written, including by me, about the effect of social media on politics, and in particular the way in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/quite-a-lot-has-been-written-including-by-me-about-the-effect-of/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [After Trump became president, it was really too late to investigate his dodgy investments in Azerbaijan or his links to Russian money laundering. Those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/after-trump-became-president-it-was-really-too-late-to-investigate/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [If Reagan and John Paul II were linked by anything, it was a grand, ambitious, and generous idea of Western political civilization, one in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/if-reagan-and-john-paul-ii-were-linked-by-anything-it-was-a-grand/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [Until the attack on Pearl Harbor, isolationism was an important, even dominant strand in U.S. politics. After the Second World War, this strand disappeared,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/until-the-attack-on-pearl-harbor-isolationism-was-an-important-even/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [The U.S.S.R. was a totalitarian state in which judges and prosecutors were controlled by the ruling party. The result was injustice, oppression and corruption.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/the-u-s-s-r-was-a-totalitarian-state-in-which-judges-and-prosecutors/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [One knows, of course, that Donald Trump behaves differently from the leaders of other countries, especially the leaders of other Western democracies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/one-knows-of-course-that-donald-trump-behaves-differently-from-the/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [As a nation, we are not good at long-term planning, and no wonder: Our political system insists that every president be allowed to appoint…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/as-a-nation-we-are-not-good-at-long-term-planning-and-no-wonder-our/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [Amazingly, quite a few people, even some American conservatives, are taken in by Russian tactics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/amazingly-quite-a-few-people-even-some-american-conservatives-are/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [Like wealth, or health, political freedom may simply be something that people don't value if they've always had it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/like-wealth-or-health-political-freedom-may-simply-be-something-that/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [Unlike most European countries, the police in the US are decentralized; even the FBI has regional offices. Amending the constitution is a long and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/unlike-most-european-countries-the-police-in-the-us-are-decentralized/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [The hard truth is that Trump was not exceptional. He was just another amoral Western businessman, one of many whom the ex-KGB elite have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/the-hard-truth-is-that-trump-was-not-exceptional-he-was-just-another/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [Politics in Slovakia had long been a battle between egotistical men. Caputova sought to be the anti-ego alternative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/politics-in-slovakia-had-long-been-a-battle-between-egotistical-men/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [European security may now depend on Germany, France, Britain and one or two others, and it's better to start planning now for the possibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/european-security-may-now-depend-on-germany-france-britain-and-one-or/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [Americans might not want to intervene in the outside world, but the outside world will still want to intervene in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/americans-might-not-want-to-intervene-in-the-outside-world-but-the/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) > [Romney was an excellent businessman with a strong record as a public servant - whereas Trump inherited wealth, went bankrupt more than once, created…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-applebaum/romney-was-an-excellent-businessman-with-a-strong-record-as-a-public/) [Anne Applebaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) [Explore all 161 Anne Applebaum quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-applebaum/) ## More Head of state quotes > [“As the tail on our back disappeared as we no longer had any use for it, nuclear weapons will also disappear once we realize,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/as-the-tail-on-our-back-disappeared-as-we-no-longer-had-any-use-for/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [My ascension as interim president is based on Article 233 of the Venezuelan Constitution, according to which, if at the outset of a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-guaido/my-ascension-as-interim-president-is-based-on-article-233-of-the/) [Juan Guaido](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-guaido/) > [If every head of state and every government official spent an hour a day reading poetry we'd live in a much more humane and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/if-every-head-of-state-and-every-government-official-spent-an-hour-a/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [In some shape or form, we do have an emotional connection to our head of state, even if, for the most part, they seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/in-some-shape-or-form-we-do-have-an-emotional-connection-to-our-head/) [Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/) > [Secret bank accounts are for laundering dirty money. Heads of state at the UN should put an end them. That would be the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evo-morales/secret-bank-accounts-are-for-laundering-dirty-money-heads-of-state-at/) [Evo Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evo-morales/) > [Heads of state are notoriously ill prepared for their mature careers; think of Adolf Hitler (landscape painter), Ho Chi Minh (seaman), and our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/heads-of-state-are-notoriously-ill-prepared-for-their-mature-careers/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [“This is what you get when you found a political system on the family values of Henry VIII. At a point in the not-too-remote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/this-is-what-you-get-when-you-found-a-political-system-on-the-family/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“The funeral was a vast, elaborate affair, befitting a monarch or head of state, in marked contrast to the essential simplicity of the man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/the-funeral-was-a-vast-elaborate-affair-befitting-a-monarch-or-head/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [After Trump's election victory, I explained why there would be no friendship between Putin and Trump. The contradictions between the systems are too great.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexei-navalny/after-trump-s-election-victory-i-explained-why-there-would-be-no/) [Alexei Navalny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexei-navalny/) > [Nobody defines it as something women shouldn't be doing. In a way, there are more mathematicians, more doctors, more scientists in India than there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vandana-shiva/nobody-defines-it-as-something-women-shouldn-t-be-doing-in-a-way/) [Vandana Shiva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vandana-shiva/) > [“Myself, and the majority of officers in a position of command, will not execute unconditionally the orders of the Head of State.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-horne/myself-and-the-majority-of-officers-in-a-position-of-command-will-not/) [Alistair Horne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-horne/) > [I want to know where joy lives. I'd interview scientists, religious leaders and heads of state. I'd want to find out exactly what makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-want-to-know-where-joy-lives-i-d-interview-scientists-religious/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Having been a head of state gives you the possibility of getting into places others can't go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-bachelet/having-been-a-head-of-state-gives-you-the-possibility-of-getting-into/) [Michelle Bachelet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-bachelet/) > [We have seen recently, almost every major head of state goes to India and says, we believe India should be in the Council. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/we-have-seen-recently-almost-every-major-head-of-state-goes-to-india/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [It is rare and very inspiring that a head of state would make such an investment of time to write a book like this.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keiko-fukuda/it-is-rare-and-very-inspiring-that-a-head-of-state-would-make-such-an/) [Keiko Fukuda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keiko-fukuda/) [Browse all 118 Head of state quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/head-of-state/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Even in Poland, where the president is far less powerful than the prime minister, people have a deeper and more atavistic relationship with the person who is a serious contender to become head of state. 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