To succeed inside a political party, one must cultivate an ability to sit still and remain polite while foolish people speak nonsense

American politics as you know . . . is very often a matter of capture the flag. The party that loses the flag, as the Democratic party did basically from 1972 through the Iran hostage crisis, is in trouble.

In inner-party politics, these methods lead, as we shall yet see, to this: the party organization substitutes itself for the party, the central committee substitutes itself for the organization, and, finally, a ''dictator'' substitutes himself for the central committee.

Did you, too, O friend, suppose democracy was only for elections, for politics, and for a party name? I say democracy is only of use there that it may pass on and come to its flower and fruit in manners, in the highest forms of interaction between [people], and their beliefs -- in religion, literature, colleges and schools -- democracy in all public and private life....

I didn't come into politics to change the Labour Party. I came into politics to change the country.

When a leader is in the Democratic party he's a boss; when he's in the Republican party he's a leader