A wise politician will never grudge a genuflexion or a rapture if it is expected of him by prevalent opinion.

In taking stock of a politician, the first question is not whether he was a good man who used righteous means, but whether he was successful in gaining power, in keeping it, and in governing whether, in short, he was skilful at his particular craft or a bungler.

It is true that the politician, in his professional character, does not always, or even very often, conform to the most approved pattern of private conduct.

No politician has ever yet been able to rule his country, nor has any country ever yet been able to face the world, upon the principles of the Sermon on the Mount.