Politicians are usually the first to forget that if you assume someone else is acting in bad faith they will do the same to you. Questioning motives poisons the well.

The faith religious believers have in God is small compared to the faith people put in politicians knowing how many times they have been disappointed in the past but still insisting that this time it will be different.

You can almost see voters nodding their heads at home: The public's faith in politicians and political institutions has been on a steep and dangerous decline for decades because elected leaders fail to deliver.

I have experienced failure as a politician and for that very reason I am ready to give everything for Japan.

From my experience politicians are much more uncomfortable being made fun of than they are being preached at and screeched at - you know and the soapbox routine. They're much more uneasy knowing they're a target of ridicule.

It's always an interesting experience for a politician to be heard in silence I have to say.

The trouble with this country is that there are too many politicians who believe with a conviction based on experience that you can fool all of the people all of the time.

Think of submitting our measure to the advice of politicians! I would as soon submit the subject of the equality of a goose to a fox.

Over and over we hear politicians say they can't spend our tax dollars on environmental protection when the economy is so fragile.

I want to see far more decisions taken far closer to the patients the passengers and the pupils. Far more power for locally and regionally elected politicians who understand best the needs of their areas. And far more say too for the dedicated staff at all levels in health and education.

I believe that access to a university education should be based on the ability to learn not what people can afford. I think there is no more nauseating a sight than politicians pulling up the ladder of opportunity behind them.

I'm no politician. I'm an historian who has learned through a lifetime of studying that nothing in the world beats universal education.

No part of the education of a politician is more indispensable than the fighting of elections.

Instead of plotting the demise of the traditional family as some politicians and religious leaders would have you believe gay people mow their lawns and watch 'American Idol' and video their children's concerts and have the same hopes and dreams that their straight counterparts do.

Where is the politician who has not promised to fight to the death for lower taxes- and who has not proceeded to vote for the very spending projects that make tax cuts impossible?

Indians mock their corrupt politicians relentlessly but they regard their honest politicians with silent suspicion. The first thing they do when they hear of a supposedly 'clean' politician is to grin. It is a cliche that honest politicians in India tend to have dishonest sons who collect money from people seeking an audience with Dad.

Politicians... talk in generalities and lies and I think they've caused all our grief. They're so awful they're really funny. I hate thinking this because my dad loved politics.

Mental illness can happen to anybody. You can be a dustman a politician a Tesco worker... anyone. It could be your dad your brother or your aunt.

Remember in 1973 the same science chatter said that the coming Ice Age is going to occur we're going to lose millions of people. And the politicians knew how to solve it they just didn't have the courage to solve it they were going to put coal dust on the Arctic.

I have three favorite politicians: Reagan Truman and Bobby Kennedy - Bobby for showing remarkable political courage despite being loathed by many on both sides.

I fear some of our leaders today have lost the courage to stand up. What we have now are politicians. They won't offer real plans and only stand up when they want to blame someone else.

Howard Dean has been successful because he was clear in his opposition to the war. People appreciate a politician with the courage to say I oppose this war.

I don't want to clip on the armour every morning. I've seen some politicians do this and they get a bit mangled and bitter. I just refuse to do that. I refuse to be angry or bitter or complain and I remain open. I may sometimes be a bit too open but I'm not going to change that one bit.

The politicians always told us that the Cold War stand-off could only change by way of nuclear war. None of them believed that such systemic change was possible.