--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: there are men in politics whose greatest…" description: "\"“there are men in politics whose greatest aim is to look exalted in their own eyes.”\" — Phyllis T. Smith" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/phyllis-t-smith-18694_greatness_there-are-men-in-politics-whose-greatest_2548717.jpg" --- # there are men in politics whose greatest aim is to look… ![“there are men in politics whose greatest aim is to look exalted in their own eyes.” quote by Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/phyllis-t-smith-18694_greatness_there-are-men-in-politics-whose-greatest_2548717.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/phyllis-t-smith-18694_greatness_there-are-men-in-politics-whose-greatest_2548717.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/phyllis-t-smith-18694_greatness_there-are-men-in-politics-whose-greatest_2548717.jpg) > ““there are men in politics whose greatest aim is to look exalted in their own eyes.”” [Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Some politicians seek self-aggrandizement over public service. **In simple terms:** Politicians may be ego‑driven. Key Takeaway Prioritize humility in leadership. Themes politics ego leadership Mood critical analytical Type skeptical thoughtful When to use this quote - campaigns - policy making - public speaking Key Concepts self‑importance image management Questions to Reflect On - What motivates genuine public service? - How can voters identify ego‑driven leaders? A Different Perspective Not all politicians are self‑focused. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) ## Related quotes > [You look up when you wish to be exalted. And I look down because I am exalted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/you-look-up-when-you-wish-to-be-exalted-and-i-look-down-because-i-am/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Public life is regarded as the crown of a career, and to young men it is the worthiest ambition. Politics is still the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-riley/public-life-is-regarded-as-the-crown-of-a-career-and-to-young-men-it/) [Pat Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-riley/) > [“Satan loves politics. He is the greatest politician of all time. He politicked in heaven and convinced a third of the angels to join…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hitchcock/satan-loves-politics-he-is-the-greatest-politician-of-all-time-he/) [Mark Hitchcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hitchcock/) > [There are far too many men in politics and not enough elsewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermione-gingold/there-are-far-too-many-men-in-politics-and-not-enough-elsewhere/) [Hermione Gingold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermione-gingold/) > [Those things which now most engage the attention of men, as politics and the daily routine, are, it is true, vital functions of human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/those-things-which-now-most-engage-the-attention-of-men-as-politics/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I don't have a steady relationship. That's something that women in politics deal with. For some reason, men in politics seem to have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lara-giddings/i-don-t-have-a-steady-relationship-that-s-something-that-women-in/) [Lara Giddings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lara-giddings/) > [As a young woman in politics, with few women around, you start to subconsciously behave like men in politics. That comes across as quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-sturgeon/as-a-young-woman-in-politics-with-few-women-around-you-start-to/) [Nicola Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-sturgeon/) > [when men in politics are together, testosterone poisoning makes them insane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-noonan/when-men-in-politics-are-together-testosterone-poisoning-makes-them/) [Peggy Noonan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-noonan/) > [A lot of men in politics suddenly woke up to the issue of women in politics when they realised: hey, there are votes in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theresa-may/a-lot-of-men-in-politics-suddenly-woke-up-to-the-issue-of-women-in/) [Theresa May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theresa-may/) > [“If there is any political moral to be found in this world,” Stencil once wrote in his journal, “it is that we carry on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/if-there-is-any-political-moral-to-be-found-in-this-world-stencil/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [I think sometimes women are not driven by the same, albeit, testosterone power thing that pushes men to get into politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-fairchild/i-think-sometimes-women-are-not-driven-by-the-same-albeit/) [Morgan Fairchild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-fairchild/) > [For some reason, men in politics seem to have a bunch of charisma, and women drop around their feet. I haven't noticed that so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lara-giddings/for-some-reason-men-in-politics-seem-to-have-a-bunch-of-charisma-and/) [Lara Giddings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lara-giddings/) > [If I can make a generalization, men get into politics because, from the time they're little boys, they've been wanting to be President.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-boxer/if-i-can-make-a-generalization-men-get-into-politics-because-from-the/) [Barbara Boxer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-boxer/) > [We have all these strong men in politics - whether it's Brazil, or the Philippines, or Trump, or Putin. They're all big men: it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-thornberry/we-have-all-these-strong-men-in-politics-whether-it-s-brazil-or-the/) [Emily Thornberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-thornberry/) > [A wholesome regard for the memory of the great men of long ago is the best assurance to a people of a continuation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/a-wholesome-regard-for-the-memory-of-the-great-men-of-long-ago-is-the/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) ## More by Phyllis T. Smith > [“Any woman who says she does not want to guide the actions of the man she loves is, in my opinion, lying.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/any-woman-who-says-she-does-not-want-to-guide-the-actions-of-the-man/) [Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) > [“Somewhere here there’s important information I absolutely need,” Tavius said. “But it’s hard for anyone else to sort out what I should know about.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/somewhere-here-there-s-important-information-i-absolutely-need-tavius/) [Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) > [“In his arrogance, Caesar had even renamed one of the months of the year—the most beautiful summer month—Julius, after himself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/in-his-arrogance-caesar-had-even-renamed-one-of-the-months-of-the/) [Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) > [“A day is a day whether you are a washerwoman or a baker or the ruler of Rome.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/a-day-is-a-day-whether-you-are-a-washerwoman-or-a-baker-or-the-ruler/) [Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) > [“Some would say it hardly mattered what women thought of Tavius, that even senators' wives, like Mucia, had no power to shape events. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/some-would-say-it-hardly-mattered-what-women-thought-of-tavius-that/) [Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) > [“managed to ride it out. Tavius ordered”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/managed-to-ride-it-out-tavius-ordered/) [Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) > [“promised myself I would never cry again for this cause. I would not attend anymore to my guilt, or my regrets about the past.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/promised-myself-i-would-never-cry-again-for-this-cause-i-would-not/) [Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) > [“The defeated gladiator fought reasonably well, and at the end, with a sword to his throat, raised his hand to appeal for mercy. Tavius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/the-defeated-gladiator-fought-reasonably-well-and-at-the-end-with-a/) [Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) > [“The past lives in us, and blood is blood. We cannot escape, though we may wish to.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/the-past-lives-in-us-and-blood-is-blood-we-cannot-escape-though-we/) [Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) > [“Sometimes the most direct road is not the best one. Often men do not know this, but it is something girls learn young.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/sometimes-the-most-direct-road-is-not-the-best-one-often-men-do-not/) [Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) > [“I have often thought,” she said, “that women are the only true adults in the world, and men are a species of children. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/i-have-often-thought-she-said-that-women-are-the-only-true-adults-in/) [Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) > [“I have often thought,” she said, “that women are the only true adults in the world, and men are a species of children. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/i-have-often-thought-she-said-that-women-are-the-only-true-adults-in-2/) [Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) > [“I wonder how many women from time immemorial have thought that if only women could rule the world it would be better than it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/i-wonder-how-many-women-from-time-immemorial-have-thought-that-if/) [Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) > [“Old age can be a deceiver. My knees ache when I walk, but if I sit still, I do not feel so different from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/old-age-can-be-a-deceiver-my-knees-ache-when-i-walk-but-if-i-sit/) [Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) > [“Livia has gotten bad press. Rumor has a way even now of attaching to women who break the conventional mold, and it certainly did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/livia-has-gotten-bad-press-rumor-has-a-way-even-now-of-attaching-to/) [Phyllis T. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) [Explore all 34 Phyllis T. Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/) ## More Greatness quotes > [The man who can master his time can master nearly anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-man-who-can-master-his-time-can-master-nearly-anything/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Every man who is high up likes to think that he has done it all himself, and the wife smiles and lets it go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-man-who-is-high-up-likes-to-think-that-he-has-done-it-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“You are destiny for greatness. Your future is in the hands of the Lord.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/you-are-destiny-for-greatness-your-future-is-in-the-hands-of-the-lord/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/we-need-to-discover-all-over-again-that-worship-is-natural-to-the/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [Men generally decide upon a middle course, which is most hazardous, for they know neither how to be entirely good nor entirely bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/men-generally-decide-upon-a-middle-course-which-is-most-hazardous-for/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [Greatness is not guarding yourself from people. Greatness is being accepted by the people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/greatness-is-not-guarding-yourself-from-people-greatness-is-being/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [The superior man is distressed by his want (lack) of ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-superior-man-is-distressed-by-his-want-lack-of-ability/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Great men don't 'move to the center' - great men move the center!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/great-men-don-t-move-to-the-center-great-men-move-the-center/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Perfection is the enemy of greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-greatness/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [Men want a challenge, but they want a challenge they can win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-gaskell/men-want-a-challenge-but-they-want-a-challenge-they-can-win/) Whitney Gaskell [Browse all 7,631 Greatness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“there are men in politics whose greatest aim is to look exalted in their own eyes.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Phyllis T. Smith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/there-are-men-in-politics-whose-greatest-aim-is-to-look-exalted-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Greatness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/there-are-men-in-politics-whose-greatest-aim-is-to-look-exalted-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/phyllis-t-smith-18694_greatness_there-are-men-in-politics-whose-greatest_2548717.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/phyllis-t-smith-18694_greatness_there-are-men-in-politics-whose-greatest_2548717.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/phyllis-t-smith-18694_greatness_there-are-men-in-politics-whose-greatest_2548717.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“there are men in politics whose greatest aim is to look exalted in their own eyes.” — Phyllis T. Smith", "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": "Phyllis T. Smith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-t-smith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“there are men in politics whose...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/there-are-men-in-politics-whose-greatest-aim-is-to-look-exalted-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-t-smith/there-are-men-in-politics-whose-greatest-aim-is-to-look-exalted-in/#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 } } ] } ```