Parliament Quotes

“انتخابات مزورة، كل شخص في البلد يعلم انها مزورة، ومع ذلك يعترف بها رسمياً وتحكم بها البلاد، ويعني هذا أن يستقر في ضمير الشعب أن نوابه لصوص سرقوا كراسيهم، وأن وزراءه لصوص سرقوا بالتالي مناصبهم، وأن سلطاته وحكومته مزيفة مزورة، وأن السرقة والتزييف والتضليل مشروعة رسمياً.. ألا يعذر الرجل العادي إذا كفر بالمبادئ والخلق وآمن بالزيف والانتهازية؟”
― نجيب محفوظ, Sugar Street

“There are times when wisdom cannot be found in the chambers of parliament or the halls of academia but at the unpretentious setting of the kitchen table.”
― E.A. Bucchianeri

“It seems to me that if you wish to apply laws to us, it were only reasonable to consult us on them, and from what you have read to me about Parliament, I do not think any dragons are invited to go there”
― Naomi Novik, His Majesty's Dragon

“من عادة النواب أن يثرثروا عند النظر في الميزانية، ومن عادة الحكومة أن تعد بالنظر في تحقيق رغبات النواب في أقرب فرصة، ومن عادة هذه الفرصة ألا تقترب أبدا.”
― نجيب محفوظ, Sugar Street

“Oh, my dear, love isn't always the coup de foudre--the lightning strike. Sometimes it happens quietly, so quietly you may not even notice.”
― Julia Justiss, Convenient Proposal to the Lady

“The real purpose of the opposition is to minimize the amount of money the ruling party will have stolen from the people at the end of its term.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“The real power in Ottawa, as in Washington, is in the executive branch. At the White House, there are daily briefings for reporters. In Ottawa, there is no such daily access. The media doesn't demand it, and as a result, major powerbrokers remain virtually anonymous.”
― Lawrence Martin, Harperland: The Politics Of Control

“Shouldn't it be made a crime to vie for a position you can't deliver? We have a confused and compromised executive and an assembly of pigs providing checks and balances in Kenya.”
― DON SANTO

“I felt convinced that however it might have been in former times, in the present stage of the world, no man's faculties could be developed, no man's moral principle be enlarged and liberal, without an extensive acquaintance with books. to me they stood in the place of an active career, of ambition, and those palpable excitements necessary to the multitude. The collation of philosophical opinions, the study of historical facts, the acquirement of languages, were at once my recreation, and the serious aim of my life.”
― Mary Shelley, The Last Man

“It has been widely said in the recent past that economic freedom can exist without the institution of property, because, under a Communist system, men own though they own corporately: they can dispose of their own lives, though such disposition be indirect and through delegates. This false argument is born of the dying Parliamentary theory of politics; it proceeds from the false statement which deceived three generations of Europe, from the French Revolution to our own day, that corporate action may be identified with individual action. So men speak of their so-called “Representatives” as having been “chosen” by themselves. But in experienced reality there is no such thing as this imagined permanent corporate action through delegation. On some very simple and universal point, which all understand, in which all are interested and on which all feel strongly, the desire of the bulk of people may be expressed for a brief moment by delegation. Men voting under strong emotion on one single clear issue, may instruct others to carry out their wishes; but the innumerable acts of choice and expression which make up human life can never work through a system of delegation. Even in the comparatively simple field of mere political action, delegation destroys freedom. Parliaments have everywhere proved irreconcilable with democracy. They are not the people. They are oligarchies, and those oligarchies are corrupt because they pretend to a false character and to be, or to mirror, the nation. They are in reality, and can only be, cliques of professional politicians; unless, indeed, they are drawn from an aristocratic class which the community reveres. For class government, the product of the aristocratic spirit, is the condition of oligarchies working successfully and therefore of a reasonably efficient Parliament. Such an instrument is not to be found save in the hands of a governing class.”
― Hilaire Belloc, An Essay on the Restoration of Property

“The biggest threat Parliament faces is democracy. It's been a necessary evil for centuries, and for the most part we've been able to use it to our advantage. But one fucking referendum later and it's like someone gave a loaded gun to a drunk toddler.”
― Mick Herron, London Rules

“The other world improvers point out that parliament is an alliance of monarchs, lords, bishops, lawyers, merchants, bankers, brokers, industrialists, military men, landlords and civil servants who run it to protect their wealth AND FOR NO OTHER REASON.”
― Alasdair Gray, Poor Things

“Thoughts are the constitution of life, and the mind is the parliament where these take place.”
― Ehsan Sehgal

“The dead man has no place in Parliament; he cannot bequeath his membership and he can never know for certain who will succeed him after his death.”
― Elias Canetti, Crowds and Power

“If this had been France, and the Queen had been Louis XIV, it would have been done by now-but it was England, Parliament had its knobby fingers around the Monarch’s throat, and Whigs and Tories were joined in an eternal shin-kicking contest to determine which faction should have the honor of throttling her Majesty, and how hard.”
― Neal Stephenson, Solomon's Gold

“Think...it ain't illegal...yet.”
― George Clinton, Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard on You?: A Memoir

“The revolt Samuel Sharpe had started on a Caribbean island was building to a culmination at Westminster – a final drive to asphyxiate slavery throughout the British Empire. But it came not through a spectacular legislative duel or an inspiring floor speech, but rather through the grind of parliamentary process and the unromantic reality of dickering in the shadows.”
― Tom Zoellner, Island on Fire: The Revolt That Ended Slavery in the British Empire

“The best actors are in Hollywood? No, no, they are in the parliaments and political parties.”
― David Icke, I am me I am free: The Robots' Guide to Freedom

“A country with a big parliament has full jails.”
― Mantaranjot Mangat, Plotless

“If a nation is free its parks are its parliament.”
― Mantaranjot Mangat, Plotless

“Government will never give you financial freedom, because if they do . They won't be able to control you.”
― De philosopher DJ Kyos

“Several people warned me about taking on this role, you know. They seemed to think that there were easier ways of securing a seat in the Lords.”
― Mick Herron, Joe Country

“Parliament is the most visible and exaggerated example of how our societyis changing. It illustrates the blurring of our daytime work hours into night, the impact of technology on the 24/7 media cycle, and the slow twisting and shaping of our biological sleep patterns to fit our modern lives. In a democracy, parliament is our society's last line of defence, safeguarding our wellbeing, our pursuit of happiness. In some far-off future, it may be our democracy that decides what it means to be human.”
― Fleur Anderson, On Sleep

“In countries Where development is a Right and not a tool of trade; politicians using development projects to buy loyalty and votes, parliaments are more useful than statehouses. Where leaders- elected and appointed practice professionalism, independence, autonomy and dare to trust the courage of their convictions, corruption doesn't thrive. Most democracies have turned into cesspools because of corruption.”
― Njau Kihia

“I vote as I see fit, whenever I see fit, and resist becoming a slave to the party line,” he responded icily. “If that is a crime for a free-born Briton, then I am guilty.”
― Avellina Balestri, All Ye That Pass By: Book 1: Gone for a Soldier

“Any democratically elected government that listens more to its campaign financiers than its citizens, takes the demands of financial lenders sine qua non and those of its impoverished citizenry non exitus, is a failed government, corrupt and incompetent. It's not a government for the people and by the people, it is a government by the Whores for power!”
― Njau Kihia

“He however admitted making intermittent calls to the Chief of Staff when members of the Appointment Committee approached him with demands for "motivation".
"I'd call the Chief of Staff and say, Our members have sat, and they're demotivated. You expect us to sit for long hours and finish, so you'll have your government quickly. Can you motivate members?' They [the Chief of Staff] would say, 'Okay, how many are they?' Then they would bring in money for members.”
― Manasseh Azure Awuni, The President Ghana Never Got

“Mr. Boakye Antwi said the nature of Ghana's constitution made it almost impossible to hold the president and government accountable. He said MPs of the governing party must support the government in everything or get into trouble.
"If your party is in office, you cannot go against the government.
MPs are here like robots. You have to support the government, whether it is right or wrong. The party is weak when it comes to the government because nobody can tell the President what to do. It applies to both parties, not just the NPP. The Constitution has given the President far too much power, and we don't have powerful institutions to check the President. CHRAJ, Supreme Court and all those institutions are appointed by the President. And as an MP, once you disagree with the President, they will unseat you.”
― Manasseh Azure Awuni, The President Ghana Never Got

“In one sense the House of Commons is the most unrepresentative of representative assemblies. It is an elaborate conspiracy to prevent the real clash of opinion which exists outside from finding an appropriate echo within its walls. It is a social shock absorber placed between privilege and the pressure of popular discontent. The new Member’s first experience of this is when he learns that passionate feelings must never find expression in forthright speech...The classic Parliamentary style of speech is understatement. It is a style unsuited to the representative of working people because it slurs and mutes the deep antagonisms which exist in society.”
― Aneurin Bevan, In Place of Fear

“I imagine that a parliament building
should be organic like a university campus
A special kind of knowledge
produces
Parliament's need to have different
Places where to think
to talk
to walk”
― Enric Miralles