--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We have drained common sense out of our…" description: "\"We have drained common sense out of our politics. The more we focus on tactics and games, the more good people check out and give up\" — Deval Patrick" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e0/deval-patrick-15111_checks_we-have-drained-common-sense-out-of-our_919098.png" --- # We have drained common sense out of our politics. The more… ![“We have drained common sense out of our politics. The more we focus on tactics and games, the more good people check out and give up” quote by Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e0/deval-patrick-15111_checks_we-have-drained-common-sense-out-of-our_919098.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e0/deval-patrick-15111_checks_we-have-drained-common-sense-out-of-our_919098.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e0/deval-patrick-15111_checks_we-have-drained-common-sense-out-of-our_919098.png) > “We have drained common sense out of our politics. The more we focus on tactics and games, the more good people check out and give up” [Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Common sense is eroding as politics become tactical games, causing good people to disengage. **In simple terms:** Politics focus on tactics, losing common sense, drives people away. Key Takeaway Prioritize honesty and purpose over games. Themes politics engagement integrity Mood cautious reflective Type advisory critical When to use this quote - elections - community organizing - public discourse - activism Key Concepts civic responsibility ethical leadership Questions to Reflect On - How can we restore common sense in political dialogue? - What incentives keep good people involved? A Different Perspective People may still be motivated by personal gain despite integrity calls. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Common sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-sense/) [Focus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focus/) [Games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/games/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Giving up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving-up/) [Good people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-people/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Tactics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tactics/) ## Related quotes > [If you're going to make sense of politics you have to have a historical perspective and also recognise that you have to work with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-benn/if-you-re-going-to-make-sense-of-politics-you-have-to-have-a/) [Tony Benn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-benn/) > [That's the one thing I probably don't like about politics - the focus on the individual. To me, it's more important to get it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-meng/that-s-the-one-thing-i-probably-don-t-like-about-politics-the-focus/) [Grace Meng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-meng/) > [Having the responsibilities of family life forced me to drown out office politics and focus on delivering my best at home and work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-ruhle/having-the-responsibilities-of-family-life-forced-me-to-drown-out/) [Stephanie Ruhle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-ruhle/) > [I want to focus on crimes that affect families and not get distracted going for high-publicity cases. I want to see us move away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-brauchler/i-want-to-focus-on-crimes-that-affect-families-and-not-get-distracted/) [George Brauchler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-brauchler/) > [...and the renewed shock had nearly made him spill his drink. He drained it quickly before anything serious happened to it. He then had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/and-the-renewed-shock-had-nearly-made-him-spill-his-drink-he-drained/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [Making improvements to our background check system and cracking down on illegal gun trafficking are common-sense ways to prevent violence without punishing law abiding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-heinrich/making-improvements-to-our-background-check-system-and-cracking-down/) [Martin Heinrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-heinrich/) > [James was truly an unknown quantity. He was really, physically drained in the spring and he got dinged in the fall. We brought him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-hoeppner/james-was-truly-an-unknown-quantity-he-was-really-physically-drained/) Terry Hoeppner > [“My energies have been drained. 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-macfadyen/i-did-four-or-five-years-in-telly-and-by-the-end-of-it-was-drained-i/) [Matthew Macfadyen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-macfadyen/) > [ Hitler ... lacked the \[inclination\] for anything more than the occasional sensational display of emotion, in particular the great set-piece speech which mesmerized the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/hitler-lacked-the-inclination-for-anything-more-than-the-occasional/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [They rode on and the sun in the east flushed pale streaks of light and then a deeper run of color like blood seeping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-rode-on-and-the-sun-in-the-east-flushed-pale-streaks-of-light/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Once the forest has been removed and the swamp starts being drained, that organic matter begins to oxidise and give off continuing emissions. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-ford-seymour/once-the-forest-has-been-removed-and-the-swamp-starts-being-drained/) Frances Ford Seymour > [If European symbols and traditions have grown tired, perfunctory and oppressively banal in Australia, or been drained of spirit and meaning by the dreary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-leunig/if-european-symbols-and-traditions-have-grown-tired-perfunctory-and/) [Michael Leunig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-leunig/) > [The bourgeois thinkers of the eighteenth century thus turned Aristotle's formula on its head: satisfactions which the Greek philosopher had identified with leisure were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-bourgeois-thinkers-of-the-eighteenth-century-thus-turned/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [The first rose on my rose-tree Budded, bloomed, and shattered, During sad days when to me Nothing mattered. Grief or grief has drained me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/the-first-rose-on-my-rose-tree-budded-bloomed-and-shattered-during/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) ## More by Deval Patrick > [Hope for the best and work for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deval-patrick/hope-for-the-best-and-work-for-it/) [Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) > [Anybody who knows me knows that I'm no attack dog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deval-patrick/anybody-who-knows-me-knows-that-i-m-no-attack-dog/) [Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) > [ Two \[Massachusetts coal burning power plants\] remain: Brayton Point in the South Coast region and Mt. Tom, just down the road. Within the next… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deval-patrick/two-massachusetts-coal-burning-power-plants-remain-brayton-point-in/) [Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) > [My most vivid memory of my father centers on the day he left. It was warm, and my mother was especially short with Rhonda…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deval-patrick/my-most-vivid-memory-of-my-father-centers-on-the-day-he-left-it-was/) [Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) > [I’m planning to stay in politics now, but, you know, George Burns worked until he was 100. I don’t know. I don’t want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deval-patrick/i-m-planning-to-stay-in-politics-now-but-you-know-george-burns-worked/) [Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) > [It's a free country. I wish it weren't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deval-patrick/it-s-a-free-country-i-wish-it-weren-t/) [Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) > [One great thing about being a black man is that if you put on a hat, you can move around unnoticed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deval-patrick/one-great-thing-about-being-a-black-man-is-that-if-you-put-on-a-hat/) [Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) > [I have never taken a job or done a job where I felt I needed to leave my conscience at the door. One of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deval-patrick/i-have-never-taken-a-job-or-done-a-job-where-i-felt-i-needed-to-leave/) [Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) > [I don't want to be a senator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deval-patrick/i-don-t-want-to-be-a-senator/) [Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) > [I very much believe in values-based leadership and that the values that I believe in and try to govern by are transcendent values.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deval-patrick/i-very-much-believe-in-values-based-leadership-and-that-the-values/) [Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) > [People read inevitability as entitlement, and the American people want their candidates to sweat for the job. 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I just don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deval-patrick/in-the-view-of-some-people-you-can-only-believe-in-civil-rights-if/) [Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) > [I went to big, broken, under-resourced public schools, but we had a real sense of community, because those were days in the '50s and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deval-patrick/i-went-to-big-broken-under-resourced-public-schools-but-we-had-a-real/) [Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) > [I think that hope, that ability to envision, to imagine a better way, and then to apply yourself to it, is the way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deval-patrick/i-think-that-hope-that-ability-to-envision-to-imagine-a-better-way/) [Deval Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) [Explore all 44 Deval Patrick quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deval-patrick/) ## More Checks quotes > [Check out the albums, ... Check out the live performances. 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So when it comes around to the month of May, Send me your royalty check for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxanne-shante/i-gave-birth-to-most-of-them-mc-s-so-when-it-comes-around-to-the/) Roxanne Shante > [I pay these niggas with a reality check…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wayne/i-pay-these-niggas-with-a-reality-check/) [Lil Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-wayne/) > [Two things you need to know about taxes. They've extended the deadline to April 18, and when you write your check, just make it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/two-things-you-need-to-know-about-taxes-they-ve-extended-the-deadline/) [David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/) > [The first thing you ought to do is verify what I present. Just because I say it doesn't make it true. 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