George Washington Plunkitt: Man

“I think every man would be better off if he didn’t take any intoxicatin’ drink at all, but as men will drink, they ought to have good stuff without impoverishin’ themselves by goin’ to fancy places and without riskin’ death by goin’ to poor places. p. 86”

George Washington Plunkitt

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Chapter 21, Concerning Excise

Death , Men , Drink , Thinking

“Every good man looks after his friends, and any man who doesn’t isn’t likely to be popular. p. 5”

George Washington Plunkitt

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Chapter 1, Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft

“The politician who steals is worse than a thief. He is a fool. With the grand opportunities all around for the man with a political pull, there’s no excuse for stealin’ a cent. p. 32”

George Washington Plunkitt

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Chapter 7, On The Shame of the Cities

Fools

“The man is picked out and somehow he gets to understand what’s expected of him in the way of a contribution, and he ponies up—all from gratitude to the organization that honored him, see? p. 74”

George Washington Plunkitt

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Chapter 18, On the Use of Money in Politics

Way , Understanding , Gratitude

“Isn’t it enough to make a man sour on his country when he wants to serve it and won’t be allowed unless he answers a lot of fool questions about the number of cubic inches of water in the Atlantic and the quality of sand in the Sahara desert? p. 11”

George Washington Plunkitt

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Chapter 3, The Curse of Civil Service Reform

Fools , Question , Water , Country

“Once let a man grow up amidst Brooklyn’s cobblestones, with the odor of Newton Creek and Gowanus Canal ever in his nostrils, and there’s no place in the world for him except Brooklyn. p. 41”

George Washington Plunkitt

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Chapter 10, Brooklynites Natural-Born Hayseeds

World

“The Wall Street banker thinks it shameful to raise a department clerk’s salary from $1500 to $1800 a year, but every man who draws a salary himself says: “That’s all right. I wish it was me.” And he feels very much like votin’ the Tammany ticket on election day, just out of sympathy.”

George Washington Plunkitt

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Chapter 1, Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft

Feeling , Thinking , Drawing

“Consolidation didn’t make him a New Yorker, and nothin’ on earth can. A man born in Germany can settle down and become a good New Yorker. So can an Irishman; in fact, the first word an Irish boy learns in the old country is “New York,” and when he grows up and comes here, he is at home right away. Even a Jap or a Chinaman can become a New Yorker, but a Brooklynite never can. p. 41”

George Washington Plunkitt

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Chapter 10, Brooklynites Natural-Born Hayseeds

Home , Boy , Learning , Country

“I know more than one young man in past years who worked for the ticket and was just overflowin’ with patriotism, but when he was knocked out by the civil service humbug he got to hate his country and became an Anarchist. p. 11”

George Washington Plunkitt

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Chapter 3, The Curse of Civil Service Reform

Hate , Past , Country

“Before then when a party won, its workers got everything in sight. That was somethin’ to make a man patriotic. p. 14”

George Washington Plunkitt

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Chapter 3, The Curse of Civil Service Reform

“I want to add that no matter how well you learn to play the political game, you won’t make a lastin’ success of it if you're a drinkin’ man. p. 77”

George Washington Plunkitt

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Chapter 19, The Successful Politician Does Not Drink

Game , Learning , Success

“Jimmy O’Brien brought the manufacture of “Democracies” down to an exact science, and reduced the cost of production so as to bring it within the reach of all. Any man with $50 can now have a “Democracy” of his own. p. 58”

George Washington Plunkitt

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Chapter 14 Tammany the Only Lastin’ Democracy

Democracy , Science

“I knew what was comin’ when a young Irishman drops whisky and takes to beer and long pipes in a German saloon. That young man is today one of the wildest Anarchists in town. p. 12”

George Washington Plunkitt

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Chapter 3, The Curse of Civil Service Reform

Beer