Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker mocks the idea of being both a fool and a congressman, implying redundancy.
In plain terms
Being an idiot in Congress is a pointless repeat.
What can you take from it?
Question the competence of leaders.

Where it applies

  • political commentary
  • civic engagement

Putting it to work

  • evaluate representatives
  • demand accountability

Questions to consider

  • What makes a leader competent?
  • How can citizens influence change?

Another view

The line is overly cynical.

More from Samuel Langhorne Clemens

  1. We have not the reverent feeling for the rainbow that the savage has, because we know how it is made. We have lost as much as we gained by prying into that mat…

    Permalink to quote #18
  2. Be respectful to your superiors, if you have any.

    Permalink to quote #20
  3. Among the three or four million cradles now rocking in the land are some which this nation would preserve for ages as sacred things, if we could know which one…

    Permalink to quote #17

Related quotes

  1. Nie chce, ale musze. (often written Nie chcem, ale muszem. to underline the accent)

    Lech WalesaLech Walesa quote #1
  2. Canada's position was Saddam Hussein should be disarmed. Now, to be quite honest, I had a lot of difficulty understanding how he was going to be disarmed witho…

    Paul MartinPaul Martin quote #1
  3. When you have sweated, toiled, had mad dreams, hopeless nightmares, you find yourself in London's streets, cold and dank in the night air. Think - what have I …

    Michael CollinsMichael Collins quote #1