Mike Mansfield Quotes

So you [Romans] when you have got together in a body, let yourselves be guided by those whom singly you would never think of being advised by.

A majority can do anything.

In all legislative assemblies, the greater the number composing them may be, the fewer will be the men who will in fact direct their proceedings.

The chairman of a committee should be in harmony with the majority who constitute it.

You can go to Hell! It makes no difference what a majority of you decide; I am the Committee ...

When I cease to harmonize with the majority ... I feel that I ought no longer to hold that respectable position [Senate Commerce Committee chairman.]

While Zinoviev is in the majority he is for iron discipline.... When he is in the minority... he is against it.

Liberalism is extremely harmful in a revolutionary collective. It is a corrosive which eats away unity, undermines cohesion, causes apathy and creates dissension. It robs the revolutionary ranks of compact organization and strict discipline, prevents policies from being carried through and alienates the Party organizations from the masses which the Party leads. It is an extremely bad tendency.

Governments need to have both shepherds and butchers.

Ten soldiers wisely led will beat a hundred without a head.

Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.

I would no more admit the rebels to control these States than I would sail a ship with the mutinous part of a crew, and confine those who were faithful to the captain in the hold or put them in irons.

Why does the great body of workingmen still permit itself to be ruled and exploited by the capitalists? Why are they not in a position to drive the minority of exploiters from power? Because they are an unorganized, undisciplined, individualistic and ignorant mass. The majority is impotent because it consists of a divided crowd of individuals each one of whom wishes to act according to his own impulse, regard his own interests.

The political party having the majority ... [will] necessarily control all the committees ... because they ... must, as a party, protect themselves against the chance of the control of the business of the body going into the hands of their opponents.

Towering over Presidents and State Governors, over Congress and State Legislatures, over conventions and the vast machinery of party, public opinion stands out in the United States, as the great source of Power.

Being military governor was a pretty heady job. You could turn to your secretary and say, "Take a law.

The majority voice should be controlling ... after a full, fair, and candid expression.

This committee reflects the interests of the members.

With five votes and you can get anything around here.

The President sets the policies and Congress does not. Our lawmakers in Washington ratify and implement what the President wants, but if he is a strong leader and can hold his own party together, even with the majority of the opposition against him he usually can win over enough members of Congress to carry what legislation he really feels is essential.

The power of recognition gives you the power to set the agenda.

On 'Sound of My Voice,' I was the first and last word, which is kind of a dictatorship. I like collectives, though.

There is a sense of tranquility that I think people can get from being in an organized group, where a singular leader handles the responsibilities of individual thinking.

Discipline is the soul of an army.

The majority is still at the General's disposal.