George Washington Plunkitt - Men Quotes

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What did the people mean when they voted for Tammany? What is representative government, anyhow? Is it all a fake that this is a government of the people, by the people and for the people? If it isn't a fake, then why isn't the people's voice obeyed and Tammany men put in all the offices?

George Washington Plunkitt
The men who rule have practiced keepin' their tongues still, not exercisin' them.

George Washington Plunkitt
Men ain't in politics for nothin'. They want to get somethin' out of it.

George Washington Plunkitt
If you have been to college, so much the worse for you. You'll have to unlearn all you learned before you can get right down to human nature, and unlearnin' takes a lot of time. Some men can never forget what they learned at college.

George Washington Plunkitt
Everybody is talkin' these days about Tammany men growin' rich on graft, but nobody thinks of drawin' the distinction between honest graft and dishonest graft.

George Washington Plunkitt
Before midnight we were all in bed, and next mornin' we were up bright and early attendin' to business, while other men were nursin' swelled heads. Is there anything the matter with temperance as a pure business proposition?

George Washington Plunkitt
There's always a certain number of suckers and a certain number of men lookin' for a chance to take them in, and the suckers are sure to be took one way or another. It's the everlastin' law of demand and supply.

George Washington Plunkitt
I think every man would be better off if he didn't take any intoxicatin' drink at all, but as men will drink, they ought to have good stuff without impoverishin' themselves by goin' to fancy places and without riskin' death by goin' to poor places.

George Washington Plunkitt
Then will return the good old times, when our district leaders could have nice comfortable primary elections at some place selected by themselves and let in only men that they approved of as good Democrats.

George Washington Plunkitt
Some young men think they can learn how to be successful in politics from books, and they cram their heads with all sorts of college rot. They couldn't make a bigger mistake.

George Washington Plunkitt
I honestly believe that drink is the greatest curse of the day, except, of course, civil service, and that it has driven more young men to ruin than anything except civil service examinations.

George Washington Plunkitt
I've been studyin' the political game for forty-five years, and I don't know it all yet. I'm learnin' somethin' all the time. How, then, can you expect what they call business men to turn into politics all at once and make a success of it?

George Washington Plunkitt
Who is better fitted to run the railroads and the gas plants and the ferries than the men who make a business of lookin' after the interests of the city?

George Washington Plunkitt
The boys and men don't get excited any more when they see a United States flag or hear The Star-Spangled Banner. They don't care no more for firecrackers on the Fourth of July. And why should they? What is there in it for them?

George Washington Plunkitt
The politicians who make a lastin' success in politics are the men who are always loyal to their friends, even up to the gate of State prison, if necessary; men who keep their promises and never lie.

George Washington Plunkitt