William Safire Quotes - Page 4

The new, old, and constantly changing language of politics is a lexicon of conflict and drama?ridicule and reproach?pleading and persuasion.

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

President Reagan is a rhetorical roundheels, as befits a politician seeking empathy with his audience.

In dealing with Syria's dictator...only force counts. No cease-fire was attainable in Lebanon until the 16-inch guns of the battleship New Jersey started shelling Syria's proxies; suddenly, sweet reason prevailed in Damascus.

Different regions may require different strategies, as President Bush has noted, but not different basic principles. It's either collective security or selective security.

A reader ought to be able to hold it and become familiar with its organized contents and make it a mind's manageable companion.

One difference between French appeasement and American appeasement is that France pays ransom in cash and gets its hostages back while the United States pays ransom in arms and gets additional hostages taken.

In lieu of those checks and balances central to our legal system, non-citizens face an executive that is now investigator, prosecutor, judge, jury and jailer or executioner. In an Orwellian twist, Bush's order calls this Soviet-style abomination 'a full and fair trial.'

Do not be taken in by 'insiderisms.' Fledgling columnists, eager to impress readers with their grasp of journalistic jargon, are drawn to such arcane spellings as 'lede.' Where they lede, do not follow.

I'm a right-wing pundit and have been for many years.

One challenge to the arts in America is the need to make the arts, especially the classic masterpieces, accessible and relevant to today's audience.

The Republicans do not look on the Democrats as the evil empire.

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

Never feel guilty about reading, it's what you do to do your job.

Some handsome and ambitious men believe they are above all morality, and a woman's virtue becomes a mere challenge to them.

This is what it's all about. From what I could see, you could get a bunch of people together, whip up the press and have some impact.

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.

The tension between the governed and the governing is what makes the world go 'round. It's not love, it's that tension, because that tension exists in love affairs. The whole idea of control is at the heart of human relationships. Control and resistance to control.