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Political Quotes Quiz

These quote are either BY politicians or ABOUT politics. Name the people who are quoted.
Quotes in red are apocryphal
Some quotes slightly altered to make them pithier
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: January 15, 2020
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First submittedJuly 28, 2012
Times taken17,922
Average score55.0%
Rating4.00
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Quote
Person
Speak softly and carry a big stick.
Theodore Roosevelt
Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.
John F. Kennedy
An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.
Mohandas Gandhi
Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security
will deserve neither and lose both.
Benjamin Franklin
An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last.
Winston Churchill
Rarely is the question asked: is our children learning?
George W. Bush
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the
blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thomas Jefferson
Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the
things that are God's.
Jesus
The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money.
Margaret Thatcher
A house divided against itself cannot stand.
Abraham Lincoln
Workers of the world, unite.
Karl Marx
I am not a crook.
Richard Nixon
I have a dream.
Martin Luther King, Jr
I took the initiative in creating the Internet.
Al Gore
I am the state.
Louis XIV
Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress.
But I repeat myself.
Mark Twain
I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.
Socrates
Blood alone moves the wheels of history.
Benito Mussolini
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Lord Acton
It is far safer to be feared than loved.
Niccolò Machiavelli
+14
Level 52
Aug 5, 2012
Got most of my answers by just randomly typing us presidents: Kennedy, Roosevelt, Nixon, Lincoln, Jefferson, Bush etc.
+4
Level 70
Jan 23, 2015
haha, so I'm not the only one :D
+4
Level 16
Sep 14, 2012
couldn't remember al gore's name!
+5
Level 89
Oct 9, 2019
Usually Nobody does.
+3
Level 77
Nov 13, 2013
I guess I never considered Socrates "political." Still wouldn't have gotten it.
+1
Level 88
Feb 22, 2022
Socrates was killed for political reasons (his association with the 30 tyrants)
+3
Level 61
Jun 15, 2015
I don't believe there's any evidence Gandhi ever uttered the "eye for an eye" quote.
+3
Level 84
Jun 15, 2015
Agreed. Most sources say it was mis-attributed to him, because it was in Louis Fischer's biography "The Life of Mahatma Gandhi." However, Fischer was paraphrasing or summarizing Gandhi's philosophy, NOT quoting him. Also, there are other variations on the quote going back to the early 1900s.
+2
Level 84
Jun 10, 2018
Indeed, FIscher didn't claim that Gandhi had actually uttered these words. Wikiquote lists it as a misattribution, and lists George Perry Graham as having made a nearly identical statement in 1914.
+6
Level ∞
Oct 9, 2019
It's much better than most actual Gandhi quotes, my least favorite of which is this: "I would like you to lay down the arms you have as being useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini to take what they want of the countries you call your possessions. Let them take possession of your beautiful island ... If they do not give you free passage out, you will allow yourself, man, woman and child, to be slaughtered". Great advice Gandhi.
+6
Level 56
Jun 15, 2015
The 5 most guessed here are Americans. Whereas only 66% could guess Marx and a staggering only 30% could guess Louis XIV (only having to remember Louis). I don't know about you, but I don't need more evidence that most Jetpunkers are Americans.

The quiz itself is well-made and balanced anyway.

+2
Level 55
Jun 15, 2015
It does make sense, if people are approaching it in the "Guess all famous people who said famous things" approach; and if they're from the US, then those 5 are likely to be among the first people guessed. I did get all the Americans (American here), but only because I went down the line and filled them in. Louis XIV's quote is SO memorable; or at least I think so. "L'etat, c'est moi" is like, the most full-of-yourself statement anyone could ever make (I know, challenge accepted). And Marx, come on, even if you didn't know the quote, it's kind of obvious. Plus the whole politically-significant-historical-persons theme. The only one I was uncertain about (besides Lord Acton, whose quote I am totally familiar with, but whose name escaped the sh*t of me) was Mussolini, but the whole "blood blah blah blah" thing made narrowing it down to a famous dictator pretty easy.
+3
Level 75
Jun 15, 2015
I only got Louis XIV because I was trying to remember who said, "Workers of the world unite" and I tried Lewis and Louis for John L. Lewis - I couldn't remember which way he spelled his surname. Then I tried Marx for another one, and got the workers clue. In this case two wrongs did make a right.
+3
Level 82
Jun 19, 2015
You're collecting evidence? Was this conclusion ever in doubt?
+2
Level 70
Dec 16, 2019
It's false I think, I'm pretty sure QM said so somewhere.
+2
Level 82
Dec 16, 2019
According to Alexa, 37% of traffic to this site over the past month came from the UK while only 31% came from the USA. (India in distant 3rd place with 3%) Wow. I can't cite the exact figure but I thought I remembered something posted from a few years back suggesting that around 2/3rds of the site's traffic came from the USA.
+3
Level 77
Jun 15, 2015
The "is our children learning" one is easy once you spot the grammar.
+4
Level 58
Feb 9, 2017
I guessed Dan Quayle first.
+2
Level 59
May 9, 2018
Ha, same! It sounded something he might've said.
+2
Level 82
Oct 22, 2019
You show your age I guess.
+2
Level 82
Jun 15, 2015
oh, man, should have known the Twain quote. That definitely sounds like him.
+2
Level 55
Jun 15, 2015
Yep, him or Franklin. Though Franklin was more often astute without being snarky, whereas Twain almost never separated the two.
+2
Level 89
Oct 9, 2019
Franklin was selling his ideas to other politicians.

Twain was selling his ideas to the people who vote for politicians.

+2
Level 58
Feb 9, 2017
Also sounds like Will Rogers.
+2
Level 85
Oct 9, 2019
So he really did meet a man he didn't like?
+2
Level 76
Jun 15, 2015
I though Mark Twain's quote was one of Michael Moore's. I also thought of Al Franken, but since he got elected himself he was less likely.
+2
Level 76
Jun 24, 2016
This is a thing I do when I don't know the answers - go through the comments and copy down mentioned names
+10
Level 88
Apr 24, 2019
Seems like that would take the fun out of it.
+12
Level 86
Feb 2, 2019
Lincoln may have quoted that, "A house divided against itself cannot stand," but Jesus said that one first.
+2
Level 72
Oct 9, 2019
Fully agree. However, perhaps because Jesus was not a politician and him saying this was not remotely political (unlike in the taxation quote) it may be fair not to accept Jesus as an answer.
+5
Level 84
Oct 12, 2019
It doesn't matter. Lincoln was quoting or paraphrasing Matthew 12:25: "any city or house divided against itself will not stand".
+2
Level 80
Oct 12, 2019
What, no Cicero?
+5
Level 70
Dec 16, 2019
Shouldn't the Jesus quote be considered apocryphal?
+4
Level 64
Dec 16, 2019
Way too americano-centric
+1
Level 56
Dec 16, 2019
I love the Lord Acton and the Thatcher ones. Up there with the best.
+3
Level 68
Dec 16, 2019
Super surprised to see so few people getting Louis XVI. One of the few quotes i actually knew and didn't get by just guessing famous politicians.
+3
Level 82
Dec 16, 2019
Please accept "Trump" for the Louis one. At the very least through implication he has said this numerous times.
+5
Level 80
Dec 16, 2019
Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy, both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me. - Michael Scott
+3
Level 60
Mar 15, 2020
Another quiz biased towards America. And change Gandhi for Netaji with his quote Give me blood & I'll give you freedom
+2
Level 59
Apr 21, 2020
The only reason I know the quote, "Blood alone moves the wheels of history." is because of The Office.
+3
Level 62
Jul 21, 2020
Morgan Freeman is the answer to every one.
+1
Level 65
Dec 9, 2021
"Morgan Freeman is the answer to every one." - Jennywren21
+2
Level 68
May 31, 2022
The Thatcher quote shows a fundamental (and likely wilful) misunderstanding of socialism - which revolves around the non-private ownership of land and capital.

Ironically enough, her words would be more applicable as a critique of stock-market capitalism (see e.g. Uber, Netflix, etc.)

The presence of the quote diminishes this quiz.

+1
Level 67
Jan 19, 2023
"I am the senate"

Chancellor Palpatine, First Emperor of the Galactic Empire

+1
Level 65
Feb 26, 2023
A different but more enjoyable click version of political quotes:

https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/178422/match-quote-about-politics-to-person

+1
Level 66
Nov 25, 2023
Socrates never said "I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world". That quote comes from Diogenes of Sinope.