Barbara W. Tuchman - Government Quotes

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Governments do not like to face radical remedies; it is easier to let politics predominate.

Barbara W. Tuchman
Confronted by menace, or what is perceived as menace, governments will usually attempt to smash it, rarely to examine it, understand it, define it.

Barbara W. Tuchman
Government remains the paramount area of folly because it is there that men seek power over others—only to lose it over themselves.

Barbara W. Tuchman
His (Deschamps') complaint of court life was the same as is made of government at the top in any age: it was composed of hypocrisy, flattery, lying, paying and betraying; it was where calumny and cupidity reigned, common sense lacked, truth dared not appear, and where to survive one had to be deaf, blind, and dumb.

Barbara W. Tuchman
Strong prejudices in an ill-formed mind are hazardous to government, and when combined with a position of power even more so.

Barbara W. Tuchman
Wooden-headedness, the source of self-deception, is a factor that plays a remarkably large role in government. It consists in assessing a situation in terms of preconceived fixed notions while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting according to wish while not allowing oneself to be deflected by the facts.

Barbara W. Tuchman
What is government but an arrangement by which the many accept the authority of the few?

Barbara W. Tuchman
No more distressing moment can ever face a British government than that which requires it to come to a hard, fast and specific decision.

Barbara W. Tuchman
A phenomenon noticeable throughout history regardless of place or period is the pursuit by government of policies contrary to their own interests. Mankind, it seems, makes a poorer performance of government than of almost any human activity.

Barbara W. Tuchman
If wisdom in government eludes us, perhaps courage could substitute-the moral courage to terminate mistakes.

Barbara W. Tuchman