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

William Safire

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William Safire
Age: 79 †
Born: 1929
Born: December 17
Died: 2009
Died: September 27
Author
Columnist
Journalist
Writer
New York City
New York
William Lewis Safire
Winning
Truism
Politics
Truest
Political
Imperfect
Beat
Decide
Beats
Nobody
Somebody

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Gridlock is great. My motto is, 'Don't just do something. Stand there.'
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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 in the control room-is useful in gauging what you should try to do.
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Writers who used to show off their erudition no longer sing in the bare ruined choir of the media.
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Remember to never split an infinitive. The passive voice should never be used. Do not put statements in the negative form. Proofread carefully to see if you words out. And don't start a sentence with a conjugation.
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Previously known for its six syllables of sweetness and light, reconciliation has become the political fighting word of the year.
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The remarkable legion of the unremarked, whose individual opinions are not colorful or different enough to make news, but whose collective opinion, when crystallized, can make history.
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Dangling punch lines to forgotten stories remain in the language like the smile of the Cheshire cat.
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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.
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Of higher value than any one leader is the cause.
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When articulation is impossible, gesticulation comes to the rescue.
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A reader ought to be able to hold it and become familiar with its organized contents and make it a mind's manageable companion.
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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.
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Create your own constituency of the infuriated.
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Have a definite opinion.
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George Washington had a tough second term.
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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.
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You don't overturn a previous court's decisions lightly and I think most Americans are somewhere in the middle on abortion and there's not going to be a revolution here at all.
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Sir Alec Douglas-Home, when he was British Foreign Secretary, said he received the following telegram from an irate citizen: To hell with you. Offensive letter follows.
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Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don't know and I don't care.
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At a certain point, what people mean when they use a word becomes its meaning.
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