Political Speeches Quotes

• In our time political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible.

  George Orwell

  Time, Writing, Political Language

  George Orwell (1956). “The Orwell Reader: Fiction, Essays, and Reportage”, New York : Harcourt, Brace

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• Unfortunately, the media, which are not at all reluctant to act in their own self-interest, have succeeded in equating reform in the public mind with further restrictions on just about everyone else's freedom of political speech.

  James L. Buckley

  Self, Media, Political

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• The New York Times editorial page is like a Ouija board that has only three answers, no matter what the question. The answers are: higher taxes, more restrictions on political speech and stricter gun control.

  Ann Coulter

  New York, Gun, Political

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• I believe in freedom of speech. And I believe that spending on political campaigns is a form of political speech that is protected under the constitution.

  Marco Rubio

  Believe, Political, Freedom Of Speech

  Source: abcnews.go.com

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• I honestly believe I am the only woman in the United States who ever traveled throughout the country with a nursing baby to make political speeches.

  Ida B. Wells

  Country, Baby, Believe

  Ida B. Wells (2013). “Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells”, p.244, University of Chicago Press

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• In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible. Things like the continuance of British rule in India, the Russian purges and deportations, the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan, can indeed be defended, but only by arguments which are too brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the professed aims of the political parties. Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness.

  George Orwell

  Party, Writing, Squares

  George Orwell (2001). “Orwell and Politics”, p.459, Penguin UK

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• The First Amendment is really at the very core of political speech, and political speech is at the core of the First Amendment. So, we want to be very careful to make sure that candidates for office are free to express their views so that people will make an informed choice. We don't want them holding back, and sort of concealing their views and then disclosing them afterwards.

  Alex Kozinski

  Views, People, Office

  Source: www.cbsnews.com

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• Precisely because our political speeches are meant to be reported, they are not worth reporting. Precisely because they are carefully designed to be read, nobody reads them.

  Gilbert K. Chesterton

  Political, Speech, Meant To Be

  "All Things Considered". Book by Gilbert K. Chesterton, 1908.

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• Hollywood is right. A good and strong movie can have a more powerful social impact than any and all political speeches or newspaper editorials and columns.

  Mike Royko

  Strong, Powerful, Impact

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• To educate the masses politically does not mean, cannot mean, making a political speech. What it means is to try, relentlessly and passionately, to teach the masses that everything depends on them; that if we stagnate it is their responsibility, and that if we go forward it is due to them too, that there is no such thing as a demiurge, that there is no famous man who will take the responsibility for everything, but that the demiurge is the people themselves and the magic hands are finally only the hands of the people.

  Frantz Fanon

  Mean, Responsibility, Men

  Frantz Fanon (1968). “The Wretched of the Earth”

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• There is no reason for the government to limit political speech.

  Penn Jillette

  Government, Political, Speech

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• Every time I hear a political speech or I read those of our leaders, I am horrified at having, for years, heard nothing which sounded human. It is always the same words telling the same lies. And the fact that men accept this, that the people’s anger has not destroyed these hollow clowns, strikes me as proof that men attribute no importance to the way they are governed; that they gamble – yes, gamble – with a whole part of their life and their so called 'vital interests.

  Albert Camus

  Lying, Men, Years

  Albert Camus (1978). “Notebooks, 1935-1942”, Harcourt

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• In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible... Thus, political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging, and sheer cloudy vagueness... Political language [is] designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable.

  George Orwell

  Lying, Writing, Political Language

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• I understand what a normal political speech is. You get up there, tell a few jokes, you have the flags behind you, and you speak for 10 or 15 minutes in broad generalities.

  Bernie Sanders

  Political, Flags, Speech

  "Bernie Sanders on politics, Clinton and guns". Interview with Dan Roberts, www.theguardian.com. December 18, 2015.

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• The whole art of the political speech is to put 'nothing' into it. It is much more difficult than it sounds.

  Hilaire Belloc

  Art, Political, Sound

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• I’m not for profiling people on the color of their skin or on their religion. But I would take into account where they've been traveling and perhaps you might indirectly have to take into account whether or not they've been going to radical political speeches by religious leaders. It wouldn't be that they are Islamic. But if someone is attending speeches from someone who is promoting the violent overthrow of our government, that’s really an offense that we should be going after. They should be deported or put in prison.

  Rand Paul

  Religious, Islamic, Government

  "Does Rand Paul Really Want to Imprison People for Attending Speeches?". "The Sean Hannity Show", reason.com. June 2, 2011.

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• For the individual, as I can testify, a brief grounding in semantics, besides making philosophy unreadable, makes unreadable most political speeches, classical economic theory, after-dinner oratory, diplomatic notes, newspaper editorials, treatises on pedagogics and education, expert financial comment, dissertations on money and credit, accounts of debates, and Great Thoughts from Great Thinkers in general. You would be surprised at the amount of time this saves.

  Stuart Chase

  Philosophy, Political, Speech

  Stuart Chase (2015). “Tyranny of Words”, p.15, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• For being able to use language was a critical skill that could carry one far. One could use it professionally, as a crafter of everything from political speeches to modern novels. One could use it personally, as a tool of discovery or a means of staying connected to others. One could use it as an outlet that would feed the artistic spirit of the creator, which existed in everyone.

  Elizabeth George

  Mean, Modern Novel, Skills

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• Nowadays, of course, just about our only solvent industry is the merchandising of death, bankrolled by our grandchildren, so that the message of our principal art forms, movies and television and political speeches and newspaper columns, for the sake of the economy, simply has to be this: War is hell, all right, but the only way a boy can become a man is in a shoot-out of some kind, preferably, but by no means necessarily, on a battlefield.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Art, War, Mean

  Kurt Vonnegut (1987). “Bluebeard: A Novel”, New York : Delacorte Press

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• Every time I hear a political speech or I read those of our leaders, I am horrified at having, for years, heard nothing which sounded human. It is always the same words telling the same lies.

  Albert Camus

  Lying, Years, Leader

  Albert Camus (1963). “Carnets: 1935-1942”

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• You can't trust politicians. It doesn't matter who makes a political speech. It's all lies - and it applies to any rock star who wants to make a political speech as well.

  Bob Geldof

  Stars, Lying, Rocks

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• A great many political speeches are literary parricides; they kill their fathers.

  George D. Prentice

  Father, Political, Speech

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• I'm really proud of this Supreme Court and the way they've been dealing with the issue of First Amendment political speech.

  Mitch McConnell

  Issues, Political, Speech

  Koch Brothers Donor Summit speech, ladylibertine.net. June 15, 2014.

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• One day while Lloyd George was making a political speech before a big crowd, a heckler yelled, "Wait a minute, Mr. George. Isn't it true your grandfather used to peddle tinware around here in an oxcart hauled by a donkey?" Lloyd George replied, "I digress just a moment and thank the gentlemen for calling that to my attention. It is true, my dear old grandfather used to peddle tinware with an old cart and a donkey. As a matter of fact, after this meeting is over, if my friend will come with me, I will show him that old cart, but I never knew until this minute what became of the ass."

  David Lloyd George

  Justice, Waiting, Political

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• As a matter of fact, I didn't make a political speech outside of my state for 20 years.

  Joe Biden

  Years, Political, Speech

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