Line #25 Quotes/Realpolitik


1	[[foldercontrol]]
2	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
3	->There is an old Vulcan proverb; "Only Nixon could go to China."
4	-->-- '''Spock''', ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry''
5
6	->'''Adm. Dougherty:''' We have the planet. They have the technology. A technology we can't duplicate. You know what that makes us? Partners.\
7	'''Cpn. Picard:''' Our partners are nothing more than petty thugs.\
8	'''Dougherty:''' On Earth, petroleum once turned "petty thugs" into world leaders.
9	-->-- ''Film/StarTrekInsurrection''
10
11	->"In order for everything to remain the same, everything will have to change."
12	-->-- '''Tancredi Falconeri''', ''Film/TheLeopard''
13	[[/folder]]
14
15
16	[[folder:Literature]]
17	->''"We ''could'' feed them, and we ''did'', with or without the consent of the Senate. But if we could sneak a few outlying planets away from the Empire by doing it, why not?"''
18	-->-- '''Captain Kanril Eleya''' to [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Jake Sisko]], ''Fanfic/FromBajorToTheBlack''
19
20	->When your enemies defy you, you must serve them steel and fire. When they go to their knees, however, you must help them back to their feet. [[PragmaticVillainy Elsewise no man will ever bend the knee to you]]. And any man who must say "I am the king" is no true king at all. Aerys never understood that, but you will. [[DragonInChief When I've won your war for you]], we will restore the king's peace and the king's justice.
21	-->-- '''Lord Tywin Lannister''' to King Joffrey Baratheon, ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''
22	[[/folder]]
23
24	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
25	->"Work in intelligence long enough, you hang on to phone numbers. No matter who your enemy is, there's a chance you'll need them tomorrow. Churchill and Stalin weren't chummy in 1941, but once the Nazis marched on Moscow they got past their differences."
26	-->-- ''Series/BurnNotice'', "Devil You Know"
27
28	->"Are you serious? This woman made the Durian Massacres look like a church picnic, and Earth wants to give her a grant??"
29	-->-- '''Garibaldi''', talking about an alien version of UsefulNotes/JosefMengele who just so happened to invent a [[ImmortalityInducer serum for immortality]] as the end result of her medical experiments that tortured and murdered millions of victims in the ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode, ([[{{Recap/BabylonFiveS01E09Deathwalker}} "Deathwalker"]])
30
31	->'''Doctor''': Are we also going to tell them ''where'' you honed your surgical techniques? A footnote, perhaps. "For further details, see: Cardassian death camps."\
32	'''Crell''': Those techniques were crucial this morning. Where was your sarcasm then?
33	-->--''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', "Nothing Human"
34
35	->'''Claire Underwood''': There were political realities we couldn't ignore.\
36	'''Megan Hennessy''': Do you ever wonder why so many people hate Washington? It's because of people like ''you'' using phrases like ''that''.
37	-->-- ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS''
38
39	->17 schoolgirls were forced to burn alive because they weren't wearing the proper clothing. Am I 'outraged'? No. That is UsefulNotes/SaudiArabia, our partners in peace.
40	-->-- '''CJ Cregg''', ''Series/TheWestWing''
41
42	->"You don't need to make formal alliances with people you trust."
43	-->-- '''Lord Tywin Lannister''', ''Series/GameOfThrones''
44
45	->'''[[TheSpymaster Varys]]''': You're quite good at playing [[TheDragon Hand]], you know. [[HeroBall Jon Arryn and Ned Stark were good men]]. [[HonorBeforeReason Honorable men]]. But [[ContractualGenreBlindness they disdained the game]] [[DecadentCourt and those who play it ]]. You enjoy the game.\
46	'''Tyrion''': I do. Last thing I expected.\
47	'''Varys''': And you play it well.\
48	'''Tyrion''': I'd like to keep playing it.
49	-->-- ''Series/GameOfThrones''
50
51	->'''Pharazôn ''':Statecraft is the art of attending to small matters as diligently as grand ones. I should like to think you'd learned that by now."\
52	'''Kemen''': I was only trying to be clever.\
53	'''Pharazôn ''': Cleverness is for men of small ambition. I'd much rather it if you were wise, my son.
54	-->--''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower''
55
56	->'''Hacker''': Humphrey, are you saying that Britain should not support law and justice?\
57	'''Sir Humphrey''': No, of course we should, Prime Minister. We just shouldn't let it affect our foreign policy, that's all!\
58	'''Hacker''': We should always fight for the weak against the strong.\
59	'''Sir Humphrey''': Well, then why don't we send troops to Afghanistan to fight the Russians?\
60	'''Hacker''': The Russians are ''too'' strong.
61	-->--''Series/YesPrimeMinister''
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Music]]
65	->''"Gather 'round while I sing you of Wernher von Braun\
66	A man whose allegiance\
67	Is ruled by expedience\
68	Call him a Nazi, he won't even frown\
69	"Nazi Schmazi", says Wernher von Braun"''
70	-->-- "Wernher von Braun", ''Music/ThatWasTheYearThatWas''
71	[[/folder]]
72
73	[[folder:Stand-Up Comedy]]
74	->"[[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror We got attacked.]]\
75	"By who?"\
76	Osama bin Laden.\
77	"That guy from Afghanistan? [[UsefulNotes/SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan Didn't we used to send him weapons?]]"\
78	Yeah, I know!\
79	"We went after him, right?"\
80	Yeah.\
81	"Did we get him?"\
82	Almost.\
83	"Well, what do you mean 'almost'?"\
84	Well, we went after Hussein, because he had weapons of mass destruction.\
85	"That guy from Syria. I ''knew'' that fuck would do this."\
86	No, the one from Iraq.\
87	"SADDAM Hussein? Bush Sr. kicked his ass!"\
88	Yeah, he did!\
89	"And we got him?"\
90	Oh, fuck, we got him.\
91	"And we found the weapons of mass destruction? Cause he would tell you where they are."\
92	Well, [[HisNameIs they executed him.]]\
93	"Fuck off! And did you get bin Laden?"\
94	[[HilariousInHindsight Almost.]] We got [[DamnedByFaintPraise four of his number threes.]]\
95	"Okaaay.... But he's in Afghanistan."\
96	Maybe. He might be in Pakistan.\
97	"Well, let's go after him in Pakistan!"\
98	Well, there's a problem there. They're allies, and [[{{Irony}} they have weapons of mass destruction.]]
99	-->-- '''Creator/RobinWilliams''', ''Weapons of Self-Destruction''
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Theatre]]
103	->''The art of the compromise\
104	Hold your nose and close your eyes\
105	We want our leaders to save the day\
106	But we don't get a say in what they trade away\
107	We dream of a brand new start\
108	But we dream in the dark for the most part''
109	-->"The Room Where it Happens", ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}''
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Video Games]]
113	->'''Mike Toreno''': Some traitors from another department think they can help the '[[UsefulNotes/ColdWar overseas situation]]' by financing militaristic dictators in exchange for arms contacts.\
114	'''Carl "C.J." Johnson:''' Hey, ain't that exactly what ''you'' do?\
115	'''Toreno:''' [[HypocrisyNod Well, kind of,]] but we get to pick our dictators; degenerates that ''we'' can control. We try to [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids stay the hell away from these guys with "principles"]] because that just muddies the waters.
116	-->-- ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas''
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Web Comics]]
120	->The fifty families play a game\
121	That all revolves around a name.\
122	To play the game you must be skilled\
123	The Game of Kings can get you killed.\
124	They plot and murder, lie and sin\
125	Determined no one else should win.\
126	They'll turn Europa upside down\
127	To try to claim the Lightning Crown.
128	-->-- '''Anonymous''' (No, really, we don't know who wrote it. Honest.), ''Literature/AgathaHAndTheClockworkPrincess'', ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''
129
130	->If someone can't handle an unpleasant truth? '''Lie''' to them. If somone won't listen to reason? '''Make''' them. If people don't choose to live peaceably—don't give them a '''choice.''' If you don't like the rules—'''change the game.'''
131	-->-- '''Tarvek Sturmvoraus''', ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' , summarizing what he learned from watching [[TheExtremistWasRight Baron Wulfenbach]] at work ([[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110422 Vol. 11 p. 76]])
132
133	->'''Agatha''': '''ARRGH.''' What do you call it... when you have to work with someone you'd be better off killing?\
134	'''Krosp''': Politics.\
135	'''Agatha''': ... I don't like it.\
136	'''Krosp''': Few people do.
137	-->-- [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20190724 "Stupid Martellus"]] - ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Web Original]]
141	->''It all comes down to who's side 'we' are on... or rather, who is on 'our' side. Since 'we' are, by definition and by common sense, the goodies, then our friends must, ipso facto, be goodies too... [[TaughtByTelevision goodies don't ally with baddies]], after all... and so those who attack 'our' friends must, logically, be baddies. This is what responsible journalists call 'living in the real world'.''
142	-->-- '''[[http://shabogangraffiti.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-town-without-context.html Jack Graham]]''' on ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[{{Recap/DoctorWhoS33E3ATownCalledMercy}} "A Town Called Mercy"]]
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Western Animation]]
146	->'''Huey''': Why do you keep hanging up on me? I’m telling you the truth! The CIA trained Osama Bin Laden in using terrorism against the Soviets during the [[UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan Reagan]]-[[UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush Bush]] administration! They gave the Afghanistan rebels countless amounts of covert funding!\
147	'''FBI Hotline''': Don’t you have better things to be doing?\
148	'''Huey''': Better than fighting terrorism? Heck, no! We’re at war!
149	-->--''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks''
150	[[/folder]]
151
152	[[folder:Real Life]]
153	->"Politics is the art of the possible."
154	-->-- '''[[UsefulNotes/OttoVonBismarck Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck]]'''
155
156	->''"Politics is the art of choosing between [[BlackAndGreyMorality the disastrous and the unpalatable]]."''
157	-->-- '''John Kenneth Galbraith'''
158
159	->''You protest, and with justice, each time [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] jails an opponent; but you forget that [[UsefulNotes/JosephStalin Stalin]] and company have jailed and murdered a thousand times as many. It seems to me, and indeed the evidence is plain, that compared to the Moscow brigands and assassins, Hitler is hardly more than a common Ku Kluxer and [[UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini Mussolini]] almost a philanthropist.''
160	-->--'''Creator/HLMencken''', open letter to Creator/UptonSinclair
161
162	->''What a man! I have lost my heart!... Fascism has rendered a service to the entire world... If I were Italian, I am sure I would have been with you entirely from the beginning of your victorious struggle against the bestial appetites and passion of Leninism.''
163	-->--'''UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill''' in a letter to Mussolini
164
165	->''Yet in the most mean, cowardly, hypocritical way the British ruling class did all they could to hand Spain over to Franco and the Nazis. Why? Because they were pro-Fascist, was the obvious answer.''
166	-->--'''Creator/GeorgeOrwell''', ''Fighting in Spain ''
167
168	->"If we see that [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Germany]] is winning we ought to help [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Russia]], and if Russia is winning we ought to help Germany, and that way let them kill as many as possible."
169	-->-- '''Senator UsefulNotes/HarryTruman''', June 1941 [[note]] printed in [=McCullough=], David, ''Truman'' (New York, 1992) p. 262 [[/note]]
170
171	->"Hoover knew that Joe wasn't the best guy in the world to be doing this job. We all did ... But his attitude was, 'Thank God somebody's doing it.' They were fighting the same enemy, you know."
172	-->--'''Robert J. Morris''', chief counsel to the United States Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security, on J. Edgar Hoover and Senator Joseph [=McCarthy=]
173
174	->"Great powers have no principles -- only interests."
175	-->-- '''Att. Henry Kissinger'''
176
177	->"No one is innocent after the experience of governing."
178	-->-- Sen. '''Daniel Patrick Moynihan'''
179
180	->"We know UsefulNotes/{{Saddam\|Hussein}} at one time had weapons of mass destruction because we have the receipts!"
181	-->-- '''Chalmers Johnson'''
182
183	->"When someone says, 'But he was giving arms to people he knew had killed our Marines,' it's hard to respond to that."
184	-->--House Republican '''Robert Dornan''' on the Iran-Contra affair
185
186	->"You Palestinians can never see the fucking big picture."
187	-->-- National Security Advisor '''Susan Rice''' to Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat
188
189	->"Are we just supposed to throw away our relationship with UsefulNotes/SaudiArabia because they murdered a journalist?"
190	-->--'''Eric Trump'''
191
192	->''America's unique global power allows it to be the balancer in every region. We balanced Iraq by supporting its weaker neighbors in the UsefulNotes/GulfWar. We balance China by supporting the ring of smaller states at its periphery (from [[UsefulNotes/KoreanWar South Korea]] to Taiwan, even to [[UsefulNotes/VietnamWar Vietnam]]).''
193	-->-- '''Charles Krauthammer''', ''The Unipolar Moment''
194
195	->''"This ultra-conservative movement has resulted in congressional gridlock due to an unwillingness to compromise, dating back to the early years of the Tea Party movement. This extremism and inability to negotiate is a detriment to Congress as a whole but also hurts the Freedom Caucus itself. The climate of the organization is so unproductive that it has even forced founding members like Texas Representative Ted Poe to resign from the group.\
196	Poe described his opposition to how the group handled negotiations, telling Fox and Friends that, 'Sometimes you're going to have to say yes.'"''
197	-->-- '''Ali Gagliardi''', ''The Los Angeles Loyolan'', "[[https://www.laloyolan.com/e2024/dear-gen-z-congress-wasn-t-always-this-divided/article_e19d1b42-4e2c-50ec-b4c8-3ab5cbcfefbe.html Dear Gen Z, Congress wasn’t always this divided]]"
198	[[/folder]]

Context Quotes / Realpolitik