“Politics has become so expensive that it takes a lot of money even to be defeated.” – Will Rogers

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

No, not Dickens. I’m referring to the public reaction to the presidential election about two weeks ago. Lots of strong feelings either way, with Trump supporters absolutely delighted and Harris supporters … well … despondent might be an appropriate word for this word column.

“To the victor belong the spoils,” goes the phrase that came from another presidential race almost 200 years ago. They earned it. And to the losers? Well, for the sake of this column, I thought I’d try to round up some funny and inspirational (but mostly funny) quotes about politics in hopes of brightening the mood for those who ended up holding the short end of the political stick.

And besides, who’d really want to be president anyway? It seems like a terrible job. And I’m not alone in feeling that way.

Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm,” said President Lyndon B. Johnson. “There’s nothing to do but stand there and take it.”

The office just doesn’t get any respect. “When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become president,” opined famous lawyer Clarence Darrow, who died in 1938. “I’m beginning to believe it.”

And being president can be incredibly boring from time to time. “I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency,” President Ronald Reagan once explained, “even if I’m in a Cabinet meeting.”

“Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president,” summed up President John F. Kennedy, “but they don’t want them to become politicians in the process.”

Is it any wonder that mammas don’t want their babies to grow up to be politicians? Even Reagan noted that “Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.”

On a more serious note Reagan also asserted that “Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.”

Great British Prime Minister Winston Churchill observed that “Some men change their party for the sake of their principles; others their principles for the sake of their party.”

By the way, this negative feeling about politicians is not some new-fangled sentiment. Greek fabulist Aesop wrote: “We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.”

And French leader Napoleon Bonaparte, born 1769, noted simply: “In politics stupidity is not a handicap.” (And he wasn’t even a pundit or humorist, almost all of whom look down on politicians and their profession.)

Speaking of which, “Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress, but I repeat myself,” quipped writer and humorist Mark Twain, born 1835, who also pointed out, “We have the best government that money can buy.”

“When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators,” observed author and political satirist P.J. O’Rourke.

Actor, comedian and writer Eric Idle commented that “A lot has been said about politics, some of it complimentary, but most of it accurate.”

Humorist Will Rogers explained that “There’s no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you.” He went on to say, “I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.”

Finally, actor and comedian Robin Williams told us how he really felt, saying, “People say satire is dead. It’s not dead; it’s alive and living in the White House.”

Jim Witherell of Lewiston is a writer and lover of words whose work includes “L.L. Bean: The Man and His Company” and “Ed Muskie: Made in Maine.” He can be reached at [email protected].