Quotes by Peggy Noonan

“Sincerity and competence is a strong combination. In politics, it is everything.”

“Most people arent appreciated enough, and the bravest things we do in our lives are usually known only to ourselves. No one throws ticker tape on the man who chose to be faithful to his wife, on the lawyer who didnt take the drug money...”

“The Irish are often nervous about having the appropriate face for the occasion. They have to be happy at weddings, which is a strain, so they get depressed; they have to be sad at funerals, which is easy, so they get happy.”

“Remember the waterfront shack with the sign FRESH FISH SOLD HERE. Of course its fresh, were on the ocean. Of course its for sale, were not giving it away. Of course its here, otherwise the sign would be someplace else. The final sign: FISH.”

“You dont have to be old in America to say of a world you lived in: That world is gone.”

“A speech is poetry: cadence, rhythm, imagery, sweep! A speech reminds us that words, like children, have the power to make dance the dullest beanbag of a heart”

“The battle for the mind of Ronald Reagan was like the trench warfare of World War I: never have so many fought so hard for such barren terrain”

“Beware the politically obsessed. They are often bright and interesting, but they have something missing in their natures; there is a hole, an empty place, and they use politics to fill it up. It leaves them somehow misshapen.”

We must try again to be alive to what the people of our country really long for in our national life: forgiveness and grace, maturity and wisdom....Our political leaders will know our priorities only if we tell them, again and again, and if those priorities begin to show up in the polls.

What we need most right now, at this moment, is a kind of patriotic grace - a grace that takes the long view, apprehends the moment were in, comes up with ways of dealing with it, and eschews the politically cheap and manipulative. That admits affection and respect. That encourages them. That acknowledges that the small things that divide us are not worthy of the moment; that agrees that the things that can be done to ease the stresses we feel as a nation should be encouraged, while those that encourage our cohesion as a nation should be supported.

But one immediate thing can be done right now, and that is: lower the temperature. Any way you can, and everybody. Just lower it.

Word of the day- kakistocracy. From the Greek meaning government by the worst persons, least qualified or most unprincipled.

Prayer is the hardest thing. And no one congratulates you for doing it because no one knows youre doing it, and if things turn out well they likely wont thank God in any case. But I have a feeling that the hardest thing is what we all better be doing now, and that its not only the best answer but the only one.

Everyone over 50 in America feels like a refugee. In the Old America there were a lot of bad parents. There always are, because parenting is hard. Inadequate parents could say, Go outside and play in the culture, and the culture -- relatively innocent, and boring -- could be more or less trusted to bring the kids up. Grown ups now know that you cant send the kids out to play in the culture, because the culture will leave them distorted and disturbed.

Most people arent appreciated enough, and the bravest things we do in our lives are usually known only to ourselves. No one throws ticker tape on the man who chose to be faithful to his wife, on the lawyer who didnt take the drug money

Do not be afriad! I can see that Americans are not afraid. They are not afraid of the sun, they are not afraid of the wind, they are not afraid of today. They are, generally speaking, brave, good people. And so I say to you today, always be brave. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. God is with you. Do not be afraid to search for God-then you will truly be the land of the free, the home of the brave. God Bless America.

You dont have to be old in America to say of a world you lived in: That world is gone.

Most people arent appreciated enough, and the bravest things we do in our lives are usually known only to ourselves. No one throws ticker tape on the man who chose to be faithful to his wife, on the lawyer who didnt take the drug money...

Here is an old tradition badly in need of return: You have to earn your way into politics. You should go have a life, build a string of accomplishments, then enter public service....

Candor is a compliment it implies equality. Its how true friends talk.