Christopher Buckley Quotes

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About Christopher Buckley

Christopher Buckley, born on November 25, 1952, is an acclaimed American author, satirist, political commentator, and novelist known for his wit, humor, and keen insight into the human condition. He was born in New York City to famed conservative political columnist William F. Buckley Jr. and Patricia Taylor Campbell, a literary agent. Growing up in a household filled with intellectuals and public figures provided Christopher with a unique perspective on politics and society, which would later influence his works. He attended St. Albans School in Washington D.C., where he developed a love for literature and humor. He then went on to graduate from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in English. Before embarking on his writing career, Buckley worked as a speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush and Secretary of State James Baker. These experiences further honed his political satire skills and influenced his subsequent works. His debut novel, "Thank You for Smoking" (1994), is a biting satire about the tobacco lobbyist, Nathaniel Messinger. The book was a critical success and led to the 2005 film adaptation of the same name. His other notable works include "No Way to Treat a First Lady" (1988), a political thriller set in Washington D.C., and "Boomsday" (2007), a darkly comic novel about the impending doom of Baby Boomer retirees. In addition to his writing, Buckley has been a regular contributor to various magazines and newspapers, including Vanity Fair, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He is also the host of the podcast "The Churchill Hour," where he discusses the life and work of Winston Churchill. Today, Christopher Buckley continues to write, entertain, and satirize American politics and culture with his sharp wit and keen insight. His works remain a testament to the power of humor and satire as tools for political commentary.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Adventure: living fully in the moment and being mindful of its fleeting nature."

This quote by Christopher Buckley emphasizes the importance of appreciating and fully experiencing each moment in life, acknowledging that time is transient. Adventure, in this context, represents a mindset that allows us to live boldly, be present, and savor every experience. It encourages us to stay aware and mindful of the ephemeral nature of moments, which can inspire us to seize opportunities, connect with others, and create meaningful experiences.

"Democracy is just an illusion that those who have the real power allow those without it to think they have some."

This quote suggests that democracy, in theory a system where power lies with the people, may not always reflect this reality in practice. It implies that there exist powerful entities or groups who exert influence over the political process, making the masses believe they have some form of control or say in decision-making. Essentially, it hints at a disparity between the democratic ideal and its practical implementation, where power may not be evenly distributed among all citizens.

"The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance based on that ignorance."

This quote suggests that a combination of ignorance and arrogance can be particularly harmful or risky. Ignorance, being lack of knowledge or information about something, can lead to errors or mistakes in judgment. Arrogance, the unjustified belief in one's superiority, is dangerous when based on this ignorance because it prevents one from acknowledging their mistakes and learning from them. It emphasizes the importance of humility, open-mindedness, and continuous learning to make informed decisions and avoid unnecessary risks.

"Life is a series of small, everyday decisions, and every one of them either moves you closer to the person you want to be or further away from that ideal."

This quote by Christopher Buckley emphasizes the importance of intentionality in our daily choices. Every decision we make, no matter how small, contributes to shaping our character and moving us towards our desired self (the "ideal") or away from it. It underscores the idea that personal growth is a continuous process and that every action counts in the journey of becoming the best version of oneself.

"Optimism is a policy that leads to progress, pessimism is a mood-and nothing more."

This quote suggests that an optimistic outlook, characterized as a policy or strategy, fosters progress, while pessimism, regarded merely as a mood, has no productive role beyond its emotional impact. In other words, maintaining a positive perspective and proactively pursuing progress is more beneficial than passively dwelling on negative feelings without taking action.

I can say this, now that my own beloved and irreplaceable parents are gone: George and Barbara Bush are parents anyone would kill to have.

- Christopher Buckley

Own, Irreplaceable, Bush, My Own

Necessity is the mother of bipartisanship.

- Christopher Buckley

Mother, Necessity, Bipartisanship

In public relations, you live with the reality that not every disaster can be made to look like a misunderstood triumph.

- Christopher Buckley

Triumph, Like, Made, Public Relations

At the senior prom for my Catholic boarding school, I was feeling manly, so I shaved, even though I didn't need to. Being inexperienced, I managed to slice a quarter-inch gash into my lower chin a half hour before I picked up my date.

- Christopher Buckley

Date, Inexperienced, Half, Picked

How many Republicans does it take to change a light bulb? Three. One to mix the martinis, one to change the light bulb, and one to reminisce about how good the old one was.

- Christopher Buckley

Change, Old, Republicans, Old One

Every election, a presidential candidate inevitably proposes a new cabinet agency. The idea is that this is the only way to solve a particular problem. Just create more government.

- Christopher Buckley

Election, New, Agency, Inevitably

Her parents, Austin Taylor and Kathleen Taylor, were big deals in Vancouver - they were civic leaders, and he raced horses in the Kentucky Derby - and my mother grew up a debutante. And when she and my dad were married, there were about a thousand guests at that reception.

- Christopher Buckley

Big, About, Dad, Guests

I don't think I ever once heard Mum utter a religious or spiritual sentiment, a considerable feat considering that she was married for 57 years to one of the most prominent Catholics in the country.

- Christopher Buckley

Think, Religious, Sentiment, Considering

I am not a political thinker. I'm not even much of a thinker. I'm a hack novelist.

- Christopher Buckley

I Am, Hack, Even, Novelist

The tradition of putting candles on Christmas trees actually began in Germany. The person who came up with the idea is thought to have been Martin Luther, father of the Reformation.

- Christopher Buckley

Been, Martin Luther, Putting, Reformation

Try, if you will, to imagine Dwight Eisenhower or JFK or Lyndon Johnson or, for that matter, Ronald Reagan chin-wagging with Jack Paar or Johnny Carson. Richard Nixon did, famously, go on 'Laugh In' in 1968, but as a candidate; and to his credit, he rued the day and hated every second of it.

- Christopher Buckley

Reagan, Nixon, Johnny Carson, Johnny

I try to refrain from the alarmist statement, really I do. It's bad for the liver and worries the dog, who has plenty enough to worry about as it is.

- Christopher Buckley

Worry, Bad, Liver, Refrain

I believe with my sage and epigrammatic friend P. J. O'Rourke that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take it all away.

- Christopher Buckley

Big, Give, Away, Sage

Newt Gingrich has certainly seen his own empire rise - and fall.

- Christopher Buckley

Fall, Certainly, His, Newt

I'm not a particularly cerebral writer. I unabashedly go for the belly.

- Christopher Buckley

Go, Belly, Particularly, Unabashedly

I love Oscar Wilde, still the wittiest writer of anyone, dead or living.

- Christopher Buckley

Love, Still, Oscar, Wilde

In a 24/7 news cycle, with all the shrieking, howling voices and rapid-response and instant spinning and Soviet-style disinformation-mongering, a good idea has a shelf life of about, um, six seconds.

- Christopher Buckley

News, Idea, Six, Um

I remember standing in the crow's nest as we entered the misty Panama Canal, and the strange sensation as the 4,000-ton ship rose higher and higher inside the lock.

- Christopher Buckley

Ship, I Remember, Entered, Nest

A new idea is like carbonated liquid in a bottle. You just sort of shake it until the cork pops, then you write and write.

- Christopher Buckley

New, Like, Shake, Cork

My wife and I spent the winter in Worcestershire. This allowed me to tell everyone back home in the States, 'We are wintering in Worcestershire.' This may be a sentence that has never actually been uttered in human history, even by people who spend all their winters in Worcestershire.

- Christopher Buckley

Tell, Been, Allowed, Human History

The Republican Party once could lay claim to the mantle of being the fiscally responsible, or 'Daddy,' Party.

- Christopher Buckley

Daddy, Once, Lay, Claim

Not much ever really comes of commissions, really. The last one that really came up with something truly concrete was the Warren Commission, and for all its good work, most Americans persist in believing that Oswald was working in tandem with the CIA, FBI, Lyndon Johnson, and the John Birch Society.

- Christopher Buckley

Good Work, Concrete, Lyndon, Oswald

I just write what comes along. I don't have a detailed master plan.

- Christopher Buckley

Just, Along, Detailed, Master Plan

If I were to win the Nobel Prize in Literature - which I think it's fairly safe to say is not going to happen - I would still expect the headline on my obituary to read: 'Christopher Buckley, son of William F. Buckley, Jr., is dead at 78.'

- Christopher Buckley

Dead, I Think, Prize, Nobel Prize

If you're a speech writer for a president, you don't really see all that much of him because there's so many layers between you and him. But with a vice president, it's different.

- Christopher Buckley

Him, Vice, Many, Vice President

I live on a train. I know - what a sad thing to admit. I am the New-Age Willy Loman. But there it is.

- Christopher Buckley

I Am, Admit, Am, Sad Thing

We make our public servants jump through quite a few hoops, you know. We get hysterical if they accept a $50 lunch from a lobbyist. We get hysterical if they accept a ride on some corporate jet.

- Christopher Buckley

Lunch, Through, Some, Hoops

I'd worked at the White House for two years, and I'd read a bunch of White House memoirs because everybody who works at the White House, even for five minutes, writes a memoir usually not less than 600 pages long - and never without the word 'power' in the title.

- Christopher Buckley

Title, Everybody, Works, Writes

My instincts are conservative, but my inclinations are also libertarian.

- Christopher Buckley

Conservative, Also, Libertarian

I hope when I'm on my deathbed, people forgive me, because there is a lot to forgive.

- Christopher Buckley

Me, Forgive, Lot, Deathbed

Catch-22's admirers cross boundaries - ideological, generational, geographical.

- Christopher Buckley

Generational, Geographical, Admirers

I had some adventures at the White House, but hardly enough to fill a full memoir.

- Christopher Buckley

White, Some, Memoir, Hardly

When the going gets tough in Washington, presidents appoint 'blue ribbon' commissions.

- Christopher Buckley

Blue, Going, Presidents, Ribbon

I'll let Democrats defend spending our grandchildren broke on entitlements.

- Christopher Buckley

Democrats, Broke, Spending, Entitlement

My dad's one true quest in life was for the Platonic ideal of peanut butter. And I remember one day he announced, with a look of utter transfiguration on his face, that he had found paradise on Earth in a jar with a yellow cap. And it was called Red Wing.

- Christopher Buckley

I Remember, Utter, Dad, Wing

It was a mistake to think that my views would have been taken on their own terms. It was a mistake to think that my last name wouldn't be a factor.

- Christopher Buckley

Mistake, Think, Been, Factor

If the question is, 'Do I wish I made thirty million dollars a year,' the answer is, 'You bet.' If the question is, 'Do I wish I could write like Tom Clancy,' the answer must remain, 'No.'

- Christopher Buckley

Question, Year, I Wish, Million Dollars

As you know, divorce is still not allowed in the Catholic Church. But here insert a large 'however' - she is liberal in the granting of annulments.

- Christopher Buckley

Here, Still, However, Catholic Church

Catch-22's first readers were largely of the generation that went through World War II. For them, it provided a startlingly fresh take, a much-needed, much-delayed laugh at the terror and madness they endured.

- Christopher Buckley

Generation, Through, Terror, Catch-22

You can't tell what's aboard a container ship. We carried every kind of cargo, all of it on view: a police car, penicillin, Johnnie Walker Red, toilets, handguns, lumber, Ping-Pong balls, and IBM data cards.

- Christopher Buckley

Cards, Container, Penicillin, Walker

Mum's serial misbehavior over the years had driven me, despairing, to write her scolding - occasionally scalding letters.

- Christopher Buckley

Over, Despairing, Mum, Letters

The needs of the nation are not necessarily convergent with the needs of the deadline satirist.

- Christopher Buckley

Nation, Needs, Satirist, Deadline

I think people assumed because of my last name that I was a real right-winger. And if you cared to look at my writing, you would be hard pressed to deduce that I'm an ideological right-winger.

- Christopher Buckley

Think, I Think, Ideological, Deduce

You live vicariously through your characters.

- Christopher Buckley

Through, Your, Characters, Vicariously

It's odd to think of yourself as an orphan at 55.

- Christopher Buckley

Yourself, Think, Odd, Orphan

George H. W. Bush may be a World War II hero and New England Yankee blue blood, but he has the tear ducts of a Sicilian grandmother.

- Christopher Buckley

New, England, Yankee, Sicilian

I grew up in the GOP sandbox. My dad took me, age 7, to meet Herbert Hoover, in his apartment at the Waldorf Towers. He gave me a silver dollar. Being a young Republican, I spent it on comic books.

- Christopher Buckley

Young, Comic Books, Dad, Towers

I was an only child who had every advantage, every blessing, absolutely.

- Christopher Buckley

Only, Advantage, Absolutely, Blessing

The laws have become so straight-jacketing that presidents and their aides dare not keep journals or diaries, lest they be subpoenaed by avid special prosecutors.

- Christopher Buckley

Laws, Presidents, Lest, Avid

I can clear a dinner table in less than 60 seconds, moaning like a dockyard Elijah about the deficit and the inevitable reckoning.

- Christopher Buckley

Clear, Like, Inevitable, Table

Lobbyists didn't descend from a spaceship. They evolved organically from the way we do business.

- Christopher Buckley

Business, Spaceship, Descend, Organically

Coming to terms with Donald Trump as the Republican nominee is like being told you have Stage 1 or Stage 2 cancer. You know you'll probably survive, but one way or the other, there's going to be a lot of throwing up.

- Christopher Buckley

Other, Trump, Donald, None

Pop was a devout Roman Catholic; I'm a lapsed Catholic. I'm not the village atheist, but I exert my right not to believe, and I doubt I would have been very public about that were he still alive, simply just so as not to hurt his feelings.

- Christopher Buckley

Alive, Been, Very, Feelings

I voted for Barack Obama largely on the basis of his temperament, which I thought superior. He is only 47 years old, but to me seemed older than that: a man of precocious aspect and judgment.

- Christopher Buckley

Thought, Obama, Voted, Precocious

I am a small-government conservative who clings tenaciously and old-fashionedly to the idea that one ought to have balanced budgets.

- Christopher Buckley

Conservative, Idea, Am, Ought

I remember dawn coming up over the Strait of Malacca; ragamuffin kids on the dock in Sumatra laughing as they pelted us with bananas; collecting dead flying fish off the deck and bringing them to our sweet, fat, toothless Danish cook to fry up for breakfast.

- Christopher Buckley

I Remember, Deck, Bananas, Laughing

I was an only child with a lot of time to kill. I suspect a lot of writers are only children, or only children become writers because it's a way of being alone.

- Christopher Buckley

Way, Being, Writers, Suspect

It's axiomatic that all husbands are impossible. But I also think it's axiomatic that women are slightly impossible.

- Christopher Buckley

Impossible, Think, Slightly, Women Are

The first novel I wrote, 'The White House Mess,' was a comic novel. It came out in 1986. It was a parody in the form of a White House memoir.

- Christopher Buckley

Memoir, Parody, Wrote, White House

I had worked for George Bush as a speechwriter, and I read a lot of White House memoirs. They all have two themes: 'It Wasn't My Fault' and 'It Would Have Been Much Worse if I Hadn't Been There.'

- Christopher Buckley

Been, Had, Bush, White House

I worked at the White House in the early Reagan administration at a time when the deficit rocket really started to take off.

- Christopher Buckley

Reagan, Administration, White House

I think my identity as a 'conservative' is entirely inherited. People see the name Buckley, and they think 'conservative.'

- Christopher Buckley

Think, Conservative, See, Inherited

There was a glamorous Nick-and-Nora element to my parents. If you remove one from the other, you're left with neither. But parents are parents.

- Christopher Buckley

Other, Left, Glamorous, Remove

I'm accused of, and perhaps rightly so, of not being mean enough. I've been taken to task in many a book review; a good satirist has to, you know, has to kill.

- Christopher Buckley

Book, Been, Rightly, Being Mean

I cast my first vote on my father's lap in 1960, for Richard Nixon, in the voting booth. I was 8.

- Christopher Buckley

Father, Richard, Nixon, Vote

I love Washington. I have an affection for the place. For a satirist, I think it's sort of Disneyland. I mean, you know, there's always some inspiration in the morning's headlines.

- Christopher Buckley

Love, Think, Always, Headlines

As for the financial world - I've been working in the Forbes building for eight years. You soak up a little bit of ambient stuff about all this - I know what a gold straddle is, what the Lombard rate is.

- Christopher Buckley

Financial, Been, About, Forbes

Fiction, for me, is sort of a protracted way of saying all the things I wished I said the night before.

- Christopher Buckley

Night, Fiction, Before, Protracted

My mother spent a month in a Swiss hospital after a terrible ski accident.

- Christopher Buckley

Mother, Month, Ski, Terrible

I once spoke to 9,000 people, but they managed to fit them all into a structure that resembled a Zeppelin hangar, so it was a contained space in which whatever laughter I generated could ricochet and hang around for a bit, encouraging others to join in.

- Christopher Buckley

Hang, Spoke, Bit, Structure

President Obama came to office proclaiming that he aims to solve problems, not hand them on to our children. Most presidents say that sort of thing.

- Christopher Buckley

Aims, Obama, Presidents, Proclaiming

American voters tend to make their decisions based on a variety of vectors. Professional political satirists employ rather more scientific criteria. Namely: who will provide us with better material over the next four years?

- Christopher Buckley

Next, Voters, Employ, Decisions

I certainly wish I were as good-looking as Aaron Eckhart.

- Christopher Buckley

Wish, Certainly, Were, Aaron

I'm a Republican, but I find Nancy Pelosi very attractive.

- Christopher Buckley

Find, Attractive, Very, Nancy

We live - on a spinning planet in a world of spin.

- Christopher Buckley

World, Spin, Planet, Spinning

The thought of Sarah Palin as president gives me acid reflux.

- Christopher Buckley

Thought, Acid, Palin, None

Really, what's not to love in John McCain, satire-wise? As if he had not already been good enough to us, then came his nomination of Sarah Palin. Here, truly, was a gift from the gods of satire.

- Christopher Buckley

Love, Gift, Here, None

Short of taking monastic vows or trekking into the Kalahari, a freighter passage might just offer what our relentlessly connected age has made difficult, if not impossible: splendid isolation.

- Christopher Buckley

Might, Passage, Vows, Relentlessly

I want Tom Clancy, the Maryland novelist, to write the story of the rest of my life.

- Christopher Buckley

Rest, My Life, Tom, Novelist

The ideological distance between Jim Webb and Bertrand Russell can be measured in light years. An author who reaches both of them exerts something like universal appeal.

- Christopher Buckley

Like, Measured, Ideological, Universal

It's always tricky, meeting an author you've admired.

- Christopher Buckley

Always, Admired, Author, Meeting

Joe Scarborough was one of 74 Republicans elected to the Congress in 1994 in response to the missteps of the early Clinton era. He was the first Republican elected to Congress from his northern Florida district since the 1870s and handily won re-election three times.

- Christopher Buckley

Congress, Republicans, Joe, District

Whatever you thought of his politics, Ronald Reagan was a great man, a courageous man. He took an assassin's bullet and joked to the doctors as they desperately worked to save his life.

- Christopher Buckley

Politics, Took, Reagan, Great Man

I have been on the receiving end of many blessings in my life, few as great as having known George and Barbara Bush.

- Christopher Buckley

My Life, Been, Having, Receiving

I have known John McCain personally since 1982. I wrote a well-received speech for him.

- Christopher Buckley

Speech, Personally, Known, McCain

Cindy McCain has emerged as a definite hottie. I think that sometimes happens to women in their early fifties.

- Christopher Buckley

Think, I Think, Definite, McCain

I've lived in Washington since 1981 and have been a faithful reader of 'The Washington Post' ever since.

- Christopher Buckley

Been, Ever, Reader, Post

I think I got a lot of my 'funny' DNA from my mother, who had a glorious sense of the ridiculous.

- Christopher Buckley

Think, I Think, Had, Glorious

With real estate, it's location, location, location. In public speaking, it's acoustics, acoustics, acoustics.

- Christopher Buckley

Speaking, Public, Acoustics

My father would have been impressed by Barack Obama's mind and style and grace of manner, as well as by - I'm certain - his abilities as a writer.

- Christopher Buckley

Father, Mind, Been, Grace

I spent, whether consciously or unconsciously, most of my career trying to be something other than William F. Buckley's son.

- Christopher Buckley

Career, Other, Spent, William

The cliche in American politics is that one week is an eternity.

- Christopher Buckley

Politics, Week, Eternity, Cliche

I'd been told, or warned, that when you paint one room, not only will it look nice, but it will also make the room next to it look as if raccoons have been living in it for the past decade.

- Christopher Buckley

Next, Decade, Been, Paint

Writing's all I know. Frankly, I've never been able to do anything else.

- Christopher Buckley

Never, Been, Else, Frankly

I haven't left the Republican Party. It left me.

- Christopher Buckley

Me, Republican, Left, Republican Party

Myself, I'm a post-ideological conservative.

- Christopher Buckley

Myself, Conservative

Sometimes when you tell a story, you reach a little bit too far just to make the story a better one.

- Christopher Buckley

Sometimes, Tell, Little Bit, Reach

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