In politics, looking at the big picture is the most convenient way to avoid getting bogged down in annoying little details, like the facts. That's why politicians always talk in generalities, such as "balancing the budget" or "obtaining justice under law" or "maintaining meaningful employment, " when they really mean "massive spending cuts in programs advocated by my opens, " or "creating a religious loophole for my largest contributor, " or "keeping open a redundant and wasteful government facility in my district. L.E. Modesitt Jr.
About This Quote

This quote is a famous example of a politician giving a carefully worded answer that is intended to avoid a direct answer to a question. The meaning of this quote is that politicians are often too busy to give accurate answers, as they are more focused on the big picture.

Some Similar Quotes
  1. Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. - Douglas Adams
  2. Politics determines who has the power, not who has the truth. - Paul Krugman
  3. Immer wieder behauptete Unwahrheiten werden nicht zu Wahrheiten, sondern, was schlimmer ist, zu Gewohnheiten. - Oliver Hassencamp
  4. What people want, mainly, is to be told by some plausible authority that what they are already doing is right. I don't know know of a quicker way to become unpopular than to disagree. - John Brunner
  5. A people religiously right, will not long remain politically wrong. - William Arnot
More Quotes By L.E. Modesitt Jr.
  1. Hatred is a form of faith, distilled by passion to remove all rationality.
  2. In politics, looking at the big picture is the most convenient way to avoid getting bogged down in annoying little details, like the facts. That's why politicians always talk in generalities, such as "balancing the budget" or "obtaining justice under law" or "maintaining meaningful employment,...
  3. The only absolute truth is change, and death is the only way to stop change. Life is a series of judgments on changing situations, and no ideal, no belief fits every solution. Yet humans need to believe in something beyond themselves. Perhaps all intelligences do....
  4. I was trying to foment a little dissension.' He paused. 'No, that's too flippant. How about trying to make the system less warlike–injecting a little love?' He snorted. 'Through violence, of course, like all religious reformers.
  5. Can violence and the use of force to effect change upon the universe be left to the young? Do they see what was, what is, and what might yet be? Have they suffered, watched evil fall upon the good, or good upon the evil? Or...
Related Topics