--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Boredom is often a useful instrument in…" description: "\"“Boredom is often a useful instrument in politics. Never underestimate it.”\" — Harold Wilson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/759/harold-wilson-15220_politics_boredom-is-often-a-useful-instrument-in_1479944.jpg" --- # Boredom is often a useful instrument in politics. Never… ![“Boredom is often a useful instrument in politics. Never underestimate it.” quote by Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/759/harold-wilson-15220_politics_boredom-is-often-a-useful-instrument-in_1479944.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/759/harold-wilson-15220_politics_boredom-is-often-a-useful-instrument-in_1479944.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/759/harold-wilson-15220_politics_boredom-is-often-a-useful-instrument-in_1479944.jpg) > ““Boredom is often a useful instrument in politics. Never underestimate it.”” [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Boredom can be a political tool, influencing public sentiment and engagement. **In simple terms:** Boredom can manipulate politics. Key Takeaway Recognize and counteract boredom in political discourse. Themes politics psychology boredom Mood cautious observant Type political psychological When to use this quote - campaign speeches - policy debates - media consumption - public rallies Key Concepts attention economics public engagement Questions to Reflect On - How does boredom affect voter behavior? - What strategies keep citizens engaged? A Different Perspective Boredom may also stem from lack of substance, not just manipulation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boredom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) [Boredom Useful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom-useful-4505798/) [Instrument Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instrument-politics-5392080/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Politics Underestimate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics-underestimate-5392079/) ## Related quotes > [Boredom is useful to me when I notice it and think: Oh I'm bored; there must be something else I want to be doing...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-prather/boredom-is-useful-to-me-when-i-notice-it-and-think-oh-i-m-bored-there/) [Hugh Prather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-prather/) > [Exploitation and manipulation produce boredom and triviality; they cripple man, and all factors that make man into a psychic cripple turn him also into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/exploitation-and-manipulation-produce-boredom-and-triviality-they/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [“To me, at least in retrospect, the really interesting question is why dullness proves to be such a powerful impediment to attention. Why we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-me-at-least-in-retrospect-the-really-interesting-question-is-why/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [The worst sin, the ultimate sin for me, in anything, is to be bored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/the-worst-sin-the-ultimate-sin-for-me-in-anything-is-to-be-bored/) [Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/) > [Isn’t ‘not to be bored’ one of the principal goals of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/isn-t-not-to-be-bored-one-of-the-principal-goals-of-life/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [That human life must be some kind of mistake is sufficiently proved by the simple observation that man is a compound of needs which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/that-human-life-must-be-some-kind-of-mistake-is-sufficiently-proved/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [We shop out of boredom, for release, for excitement, for a sense of achievement, for a sense of control over our unruly existences. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-gunn/we-shop-out-of-boredom-for-release-for-excitement-for-a-sense-of/) [Tim Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-gunn/) > [The most total opposite of pleasure is not pain but boredom, for we are willing to risk pain to make a boring life interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/the-most-total-opposite-of-pleasure-is-not-pain-but-boredom-for-we/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [I don't think anyone wants to do the same thing over and over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bachmann/i-don-t-think-anyone-wants-to-do-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again/) [Eric Bachmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bachmann/) > [When people look in the mirror, sometimes they see are their shells in the mirror, nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-people-look-in-the-mirror-sometimes-they-see-are-their-shells-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm bored of being bored because being bored is very boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachithra/i-m-bored-of-being-bored-because-being-bored-is-very-boring/) [Sachithra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachithra/) > [Boredom is vastly underrated. Boredom means that nothing is trying to kill you every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/boredom-is-vastly-underrated-boredom-means-that-nothing-is-trying-to/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) ## More by Harold Wilson > [The main essentials of a successful prime minister are sleep and a sense of history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-wilson/the-main-essentials-of-a-successful-prime-minister-are-sleep-and-a/) [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) > [The monarchy is a labor intensive industry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-wilson/the-monarchy-is-a-labor-intensive-industry/) [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) > [I get a little nauseated, perhaps, when I hear the phrase 'freedom of the press' used as freely as it is, knowing that a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-wilson/i-get-a-little-nauseated-perhaps-when-i-hear-the-phrase-freedom-of/) [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) > [Selsdon Man is designing a system of society for the ruthlessness and the pushing, the uncaring. His message to the rest is: you're out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-wilson/selsdon-man-is-designing-a-system-of-society-for-the-ruthlessness-and/) [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) > [The cumulative effects of the economic and financial sanctions might well bring the rebellion to an end within a matter of weeks rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-wilson/the-cumulative-effects-of-the-economic-and-financial-sanctions-might/) [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) > [At home and abroad I have repeatedly been asked what are the main essentials of a successful prime minister. Over and above communication and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-wilson/at-home-and-abroad-i-have-repeatedly-been-asked-what-are-the-main/) [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) > [I'm at my best in a messy, middle-of-the-road muddle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-wilson/i-m-at-my-best-in-a-messy-middle-of-the-road-muddle/) [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) > [Tories never actually talk about getting rid of their leader, then suddenly there us a flash of steel between he shoulder-blades and rigormortis sets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-wilson/tories-never-actually-talk-about-getting-rid-of-their-leader-then/) [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) > [I'm an optimist, but an optimist who carries a raincoat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-wilson/i-m-an-optimist-but-an-optimist-who-carries-a-raincoat/) [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) > [He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-wilson/he-who-rejects-change-is-the-architect-of-decay-the-only-human/) [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) > [The Labour Party is a moral crusade or it is nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-wilson/the-labour-party-is-a-moral-crusade-or-it-is-nothing/) [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) > [On 5 September, when the TUC unanimously rejected wage restraint, it was the end of an era, and all the financiers, all the little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-wilson/on-5-september-when-the-tuc-unanimously-rejected-wage-restraint-it/) [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) > [Whichever party is in office, the Treasury is in power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-wilson/whichever-party-is-in-office-the-treasury-is-in-power/) [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) > [The labour party is like a stage-coach. If you rattle along at great speed everybody inside is too exhilarated or too seasick to cause…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-wilson/the-labour-party-is-like-a-stage-coach-if-you-rattle-along-at-great/) [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) > [He who rejects change is the architect of decay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-wilson/he-who-rejects-change-is-the-architect-of-decay/) [Harold Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) [Explore all 43 Harold Wilson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-wilson/) ## More Boredom quotes > [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Boredom is vastly underrated. Boredom means that nothing is trying to kill you every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/boredom-is-vastly-underrated-boredom-means-that-nothing-is-trying-to/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [I'm bored of being bored because being bored is very boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachithra/i-m-bored-of-being-bored-because-being-bored-is-very-boring/) [Sachithra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachithra/) > [When people look in the mirror, sometimes they see are their shells in the mirror, nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-people-look-in-the-mirror-sometimes-they-see-are-their-shells-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't think anyone wants to do the same thing over and over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bachmann/i-don-t-think-anyone-wants-to-do-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again/) [Eric Bachmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bachmann/) > [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [The most total opposite of pleasure is not pain but boredom, for we are willing to risk pain to make a boring life interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/the-most-total-opposite-of-pleasure-is-not-pain-but-boredom-for-we/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [We shop out of boredom, for release, for excitement, for a sense of achievement, for a sense of control over our unruly existences. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-gunn/we-shop-out-of-boredom-for-release-for-excitement-for-a-sense-of/) [Tim Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-gunn/) > [That human life must be some kind of mistake is sufficiently proved by the simple observation that man is a compound of needs which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/that-human-life-must-be-some-kind-of-mistake-is-sufficiently-proved/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Isn’t ‘not to be bored’ one of the principal goals of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/isn-t-not-to-be-bored-one-of-the-principal-goals-of-life/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [The worst sin, the ultimate sin for me, in anything, is to be bored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/the-worst-sin-the-ultimate-sin-for-me-in-anything-is-to-be-bored/) [Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/) > [Exploitation and manipulation produce boredom and triviality; they cripple man, and all factors that make man into a psychic cripple turn him also into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/exploitation-and-manipulation-produce-boredom-and-triviality-they/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [“To me, at least in retrospect, the really interesting question is why dullness proves to be such a powerful impediment to attention. Why we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-me-at-least-in-retrospect-the-really-interesting-question-is-why/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Listen deeply. Meditate on that which is arising. Even if it's boredom or difficulty or maybe a feeling of being stuck, that in itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-yee/listen-deeply-meditate-on-that-which-is-arising-even-if-it-s-boredom/) [Rodney Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-yee/) [Browse all 1,505 Boredom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Boredom is often a useful instrument in politics. 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