Tony Benn Quotes

An excessive amount of my time is taken with political involvement. It's unavoidable; that's my temperament.

In general people feel more relaxed about participating in politics. They aren't frightened as they used to be.

There is no leisure about politics.

Politics is for people who have a passion for changing life but lack a passion for living it.

I really got to a point where I thought maybe I would want to be involved politically.

I don't have to be in politics.

I was really fascinated by politics. It always has been part of my view that politics really is a calling or you wouldn't go into it, because it's demanding and potentially has a toll on you and your family.

I love being able to be political without any political affiliation.

I always thought of myself is a private-sector person. I was a reluctant candidate. I put in my time. Now it's somebody else's turn to take charge. But I am still very interested in politics.

Politics, I believe, is a full-time occupation.

Getting involved in politics was a quest for freedom.

People often complain that celebrities after joining politics are not seen once the polls are over. But I am not like them. I would work for development.

If I had engaged in politics, O men of Athens, I should have perished long ago, and done no good either to you or to myself.

Politics deserves much praise. Politics is a preoccupation of free men, and its existence is a test of freedom. The praise of free men is worth having, for it is the only praise which is free from either servility or condescension.

Personal desire, age, and my health do not allow me to personally have a role in running the country [i.e. Iran] after the fall of the current system [of the Shah].

You can't ignore politics, no matter how much you'd like to.

If we give up on politics, we're done for. Powerlessness is a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Just by making a decision to stay out of politics, you are making the decision to allow others to shape politics and exert power over you. And if you are alienated from the current political system, then just by staying out of it, if you do nothing to change it, you simply entrench it.

Freedom isn't free. It shouldn't be a bragging point that 'Oh, I don't get involved in politics,' as if that makes someone cleaner. No, that makes you derelict of duty in a republic. Liars and panderers in government would have a much harder time of it if so many people didn't insist on their right to remain ignorant and blindly agreeable.

Turn on to politics, or politics will turn on you.

Before I went to jail, I was active in politics as a member of South Africa's leading organization - and I was generally busy from 7 A.M. until midnight. I never had time to sit and think.

I don't want to be president, but I want to be free to decide whether or not I want to be president of this country.

I have a huge political interest. I just wish I had the courage to come into politics in India.

I decided to go into politics because of our Soviet-style government.

I believe that engaging in the political process is part of being a good person.