HENRY F. ASHURST

The politician must always tell people what they want to hear.

No man is fit to be a senator unless he is willing to surrender his political life for a great principle.

Mr. President, this great new baby state [Arizona] is magnificent, this great new baby is ready to join the pantheon of other splendid states in our fair union, this great new baby state is poised to become a veritable paradise. We need only two things: water and lots of people.

Voters never grow weary of illusory promises.

If a politician, during a campaign, finds it necessary to resort to flattery, he should spread it on, not in thin layers, but with a trowel, or better yet, a shovel.

Silence is the best substitute for brains ever invented.

When a public official accepts a gift he dissolves the pearl of independence in the vinegar of obligation.

When I have to choose between voting for the people or voting for the special interests, I always stick with the special interests. They remember. The people forget.

I don't think He [God] would want to run a heaven that would keep Henry F. Ashurst out.

It is still an open question as to whether mankind or insects shall ultimately inherit the earth. It is my opinion that mankind ... has about a 50-50 chance...

When I have to choose between voting for the people or voting for the special interests, I always stick with the special interests. They remember. The people forget.

If a politician, during a campaign, finds it necessary to resort to flattery, he should spread it on, not in thin layers, but with a trowel, or better yet, a shovel.

The electorate suspects and distrusts men of superb intellect …

The politician must always tell people what they want to hear.

Voters never grow weary of illusory promises.

I am not in Washington as a statesman. I am there as a very well paid messenger boy doing your errands. My chief occupation is going around with a forked stick picking up little fragments of patronage for my constituents.

I used to recite my speeches walking up a hill. It gives you wind power. I could throw fifty-six pound words across the Grand Canyon.

I don't think He [God] would want to run a heaven that would keep Henry F. Ashurst out.

If you want to kill your own child because the Senate straightens out its crooked limbs, you must take the responsibility and accept the verdict of history.

No man is fit to be a senator unless he is willing to surrender his political life for a great principle.

Politics is like roller skating. You go partly where you want to go, and partly where the damned things take you.

Mr. President, this great new baby state [Arizona] is magnificent, this great new baby is ready to join the pantheon of other splendid states in our fair union, this great new baby state is poised to become a veritable paradise. We need only two things: water and lots of people.

The clammy hand of consistency has never rested for long upon my shoulder.

The welfare of the United States, and the happiness of our people, does not hang on the presence of Henry F. Ashurst in the Senate. When that realization first came to me, I was overwhelmed by the horror of it, but now it is a source of infinite comfort.

When a public official accepts a gift he dissolves the pearl of independence in the vinegar of obligation.

I could throw 56-pound words clear across the Grand Canyon. As a matter of course, I went into politics.

It is still an open question as to whether mankind or insects shall ultimately inherit the earth. It is my opinion that mankind ... has about a 50-50 chance...

Silence is the best substitute for brains ever invented.

A speech is entertaining only when serenely detached from all information.