William Safire Quotes (23 Quotes)

I want my questions answered by an alert and experienced politician, prepared to be grilled and quoted -- not my hand held by an old smoothie.

Have a definite opinion.

The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.

I think we all have a need to know what we do not need to know.

A reader should be able to identify a column without its byline or funny little picture on top purely by look or feel, or its turgidity ratio.

We are all environmentalists now, but we are not all planetists. An environmentalist realizes that nature has its pleasures and deserves respect. A planetist puts the earth ahead of the earthlings.

Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don't know and I don't care.

Dangling punch lines to forgotten stories remain in the language like the smile of the Cheshire cat.

The CEO era gave rise to the CFO (not certified flying object, as you might imagine, but chief financial officer) and, most recently, the CIO, chief investment officer, a nice boost for the bookkeeper you can't afford to give a raise . . .

She would take it and perform a typographical miracle. It was like looking at an E. E. Cummings page.

If you re-read your work, you can find on re-reading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by re-reading and editing.

The phrase New World Order is Bush's baby, even if he shares its popularization with Gorbachev. Forget the Hitler 'new order' root F. D. R. used the phrase earlier.

The perfect Christmas gift for a sportscaster, as all fans of sports clich.

To know your place is a good idea in politics. That is not to say stay in your place or hang on to your place, because ambition or boredom may dictate upward or downward mobility, but a sense of place --a feel for one's own position . . .

Never assume the obvious is true.

No one flower can ever symbolize this nation. America is a bouquet.

Knowing how things work is the basis for appreciation, and is thus a source of civilized delight.

The first ladyship is the only federal office in which the holder can neither be fired nor impeached.

Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.

If America cannot win a war in a week, it begins negotiating with itself.

For the sake of the country, the conservative cause, the Republican party and even his own long-term career -- he ought to resign.

Decide on some imperfect Somebody and you will win, because the truest truism in politics is You can't beat Somebody with Nobody.

Create your own constituency of the infuriated.