Statesman

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A statesman or stateswoman is usually a politician or other notable figure of state who has had a long and respected career in politics at national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term.

When a politician retires, he is often referred to as an elder statesman by his supporters.

Quotations

• Aristotle -- "What the statesman is most anxious to produce is a certain moral character in his fellow citizens, namely a disposition to virtue and the performance of virtuous actions."
• Harry S. Truman -- "A politician is a man who understands government. A statesman is a politician who's been dead for 15 years."
• Henry Kissinger -- "The statesman's duty is to bridge the gap between experience and vision."
• London's Evening News, July 21, 1960 -- "There will be need for a new word. Presumably, we shall have to call her a Stateswoman. This is the suffragette's dream come true." (On Sirimavo Bandaranaike's election to Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, the first such woman leader in the world.
• Milton Friedman -- "One man's opportunism is another man's statesmanship."
• Otto von Bismarck -- “I consider even a victorious war as an evil, from which statesmanship must endeavor to spare nations.”

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Last updated on Tuesday March 11, 2008 at 20:25:55 PDT (GMT -0700)
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