--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A statesman is a successful politician…" description: "\"A statesman is a successful politician who is dead.\" — Anonymous" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a1/anonymous-1_politician_a-statesman-is-a-successful-politician-w_3181048.jpg" --- # A statesman is a successful politician who is dead. ![“A statesman is a successful politician who is dead.” quote by Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a1/anonymous-1_politician_a-statesman-is-a-successful-politician-w_3181048.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a1/anonymous-1_politician_a-statesman-is-a-successful-politician-w_3181048.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a1/anonymous-1_politician_a-statesman-is-a-successful-politician-w_3181048.jpg) > “A statesman is a successful politician who is dead.” [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A statesman is defined as a politician who, after death, is judged successful. **In simple terms:** Success is judged after death. Key Takeaway Consider legacy over short‑term gains. Themes politics legacy leadership Mood reflective critical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - career planning - public service - historical analysis Key Concepts historical judgment posthumous reputation Questions to Reflect On - What legacy do you want to leave? - How do societies decide who is a statesman? A Different Perspective Success may be reassessed differently by future generations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Politician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politician/) [Politician Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politician-dead-367007/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Statesman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/statesman/) [Statesman Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/statesman-successful-5828875/) [Statesmen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/statesmen/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) [Successful Politician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful-politician-657183/) [Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trump/) ## Related quotes > [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/) > [A wise man who stands firm is a statesman, a foolish man who stands firm is a catastrophe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-wise-man-who-stands-firm-is-a-statesman-a-foolish-man-who-stands/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The first, the supreme, the most far-reaching act of judgment that the statesman and commander have to make is to establish by that test…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-first-the-supreme-the-most-far-reaching-act-of-judgment-that-the/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [It is difficult for a statesman who still has a political future to reveal everything that he knows: and in a profession in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-is-difficult-for-a-statesman-who-still-has-a-political-future-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Statesman only talk of fate when they have blundered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benito-mussolini/statesman-only-talk-of-fate-when-they-have-blundered/) [Benito Mussolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benito-mussolini/) > [Statesman create; ordinary leaders consume. The ordinary leader is satisfied with ameliorating the environment, not transforming it; a statesman must be a visionary and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/statesman-create-ordinary-leaders-consume-the-ordinary-leader-is/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) > [A statesman is an easy man, he tells his lies by rote. A journalist invents his lies, and rams them down your throat. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/a-statesman-is-an-easy-man-he-tells-his-lies-by-rote-a-journalist/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [What gunpowder did for war, the printing-press has done for the mind; and the statesman is no longer clad in the steel of special…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/what-gunpowder-did-for-war-the-printing-press-has-done-for-the-mind/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [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/) > [The less a statesman amounts to, the more he loves the flag.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kin-hubbard/the-less-a-statesman-amounts-to-the-more-he-loves-the-flag/) [Kin Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kin-hubbard/) > [The quest for peace is the statesman's most exacting duty... Practical progress to lasting peace is his fondest hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/the-quest-for-peace-is-the-statesman-s-most-exacting-duty-practical/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [In our country and in our times no man is worthy the honored name of statesman who does not include the highest practicable education…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/in-our-country-and-in-our-times-no-man-is-worthy-the-honored-name-of/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [A statesman who shakes the fruit trees of his neighbors - to dislodge the worms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/a-statesman-who-shakes-the-fruit-trees-of-his-neighbors-to-dislodge/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [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/) > [A statesman's words, like butcher's meat, should be well weighed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/a-statesman-s-words-like-butcher-s-meat-should-be-well-weighed/) [Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-mary-teresa-craigie/) ## More by Anonymous > [And a tear rolled down her cheek, as she said goodbye; because she's walking away, and she's never looking back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-a-tear-rolled-down-her-cheek-as-she-said-goodbye-because-she-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everyone needs someone to love, and I choose you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-needs-someone-to-love-and-i-choose-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Put on my J's and dance the whole night away Im naughty by nature like Im hip-hop hooray With my hands in the sky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/put-on-my-j-s-and-dance-the-whole-night-away-im-naughty-by-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Me.. I have been through a lot, but I still manage to have a smile on my face. Im not worried about the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/me-i-have-been-through-a-lot-but-i-still-manage-to-have-a-smile-on-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Distance is a test of love. many will fail for those who can't withstand it, but for those who can, theres only one answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/distance-is-a-test-of-love-many-will-fail-for-those-who-can-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Im sorry I ever tried...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-sorry-i-ever-tried/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Being betrayed by the one you love is the worst feeling in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-betrayed-by-the-one-you-love-is-the-worst-feeling-in-the-world/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only person I've ever purposely caused pain here is myself...By simply sharing, caring too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-person-i-ve-ever-purposely-caused-pain-here-is-myself-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Start a business, not a startup”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/start-a-business-not-a-startup/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Explore all 162,899 Anonymous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More Politician quotes > [Thatcher was the best politician I have ever witnessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clarke/thatcher-was-the-best-politician-i-have-ever-witnessed/) [Kenneth Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clarke/) > [90% of politicians give the other 10% a bad name.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/90-of-politicians-give-the-other-10-a-bad-name/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) > [In a world shaped and colored more and more by politicians, the nations meet politically, and hardly any other way to settle their differences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-priestley/in-a-world-shaped-and-colored-more-and-more-by-politicians-the/) [J. B. Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-priestley/) > [Angela Merkel has been focused on the right things. She has focused on the interests of her citizens - and not just in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-trudeau/angela-merkel-has-been-focused-on-the-right-things-she-has-focused-on/) [Justin Trudeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-trudeau/) > [The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-politician-attempts-to-remedy-the-evil-by-increasing-the-very/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [Adam Clayton Powell's entire political career has to be looked at in the entire context of the American history and the history of, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/adam-clayton-powell-s-entire-political-career-has-to-be-looked-at-in/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [“A man full of warm, speculative benevolence may wish his society otherwise constituted than he finds it; but a good patriot, and a true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-man-full-of-warm-speculative-benevolence-may-wish-his-society/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I don't know a politician who enjoys fundraising. The system is such that the American people have lost faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/i-don-t-know-a-politician-who-enjoys-fundraising-the-system-is-such/) [John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/) > [I can get along great with the Hispanics. In fact, I sure would like to meet them, even the politicians, maybe in the back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-arpaio/i-can-get-along-great-with-the-hispanics-in-fact-i-sure-would-like-to/) [Joe Arpaio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-arpaio/) > [Professional politicians like to talk about the value of experience in government. Nuts! The only experience you gain in politics is how to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/professional-politicians-like-to-talk-about-the-value-of-experience/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Socialism is humanity's second nature. All politicians do is turn human vice into votes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilana-mercer/socialism-is-humanity-s-second-nature-all-politicians-do-is-turn/) [Ilana Mercer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilana-mercer/) > [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/) > [In our system of government, the judicial and legislative branches have different roles. Judges are not politicians. Judges must decide cases, not champion causes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orrin-hatch/in-our-system-of-government-the-judicial-and-legislative-branches/) [Orrin Hatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orrin-hatch/) > [The president we have today is a typical Washington politician that's prone to hyperbole and decisiveness and false outrage. And I think it's very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/the-president-we-have-today-is-a-typical-washington-politician-that-s/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [As a politician - particularly as a politician in a coalition - you quickly realise that compromise is a part of the game. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-davey/as-a-politician-particularly-as-a-politician-in-a-coalition-you/) [Edward Davey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-davey/) [Browse all 3,971 Politician quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politician/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A statesman is a successful politician who is dead.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anonymous" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-statesman-is-a-successful-politician-who-is-dead/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Politician" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-statesman-is-a-successful-politician-who-is-dead/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a1/anonymous-1_politician_a-statesman-is-a-successful-politician-w_3181048.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a1/anonymous-1_politician_a-statesman-is-a-successful-politician-w_3181048.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a1/anonymous-1_politician_a-statesman-is-a-successful-politician-w_3181048.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A statesman is a successful politician who is dead.” — Anonymous", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Anonymous", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A statesman is a successful politician...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-statesman-is-a-successful-politician-who-is-dead/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-statesman-is-a-successful-politician-who-is-dead/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```