But reason always cuts a poor figure beside sentiment the one being essentially restricted like everything that is positive while the other is infinite.

If one of my boys was asking me if they should go into politics I'd say there's only one reason to go into public life and that's to help people.

In politics it seems retreat is honorable if dictated by military considerations and shameful if even suggested for ethical reasons.

I've done reasonably well over the last 10 years because I took the strategy of language and politics and applied it to the corporate world which has never been done before.

The only reason to be in politics is public service. There's no other reason. Frankly if that's the best job you can get in terms of money that's too bad you know. Because frankly it's not well paid everyone knows that. So for most people it's a big sacrifice.

We need to dig deep and give people a reason to be optimistic just as Obama is doing in America. Because in the same way that outcome of the U.S. elections will change the course of events there and around the world so too do politics here in Britain.

If there is one eternal truth of politics it is that there are always a dozen good reasons for doing nothing.

It's a good question because a movie isn't good or bad based on its politics. It's usually good or bad for other reasons though you might agree or disagree with its politics.

I was in the Commons recently and saw a young lady wearing a nice pair of shoes. I said I liked them and she said my shoes were the reason she became involved in politics.

Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests. The right reason is to challenge the status quo to serve the common good and to leave this nation better than we found it.