Saturday, December 26, 2009

Statesman

Someone who takes a lead in the political life of a community.

“Through all the employments of life,/ Each neighbour abuses his brother;/ Whore and rogue, they call husband and wife;/ All professions be-rogue one another./ The priest calls the lawyer a cheat;/ The lawyer be-knaves the divine;/ And the statesman, because he’s so great,/ Thinks his trade as honest as mine.”

John Gay, The Beggar’s Opera (1728)

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