“Politics is just show business for ugly people.”

— Jay Leno

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Jay Leno 35

American comedian, actor, writer, producer, voice actor and… 1950

Russell Baker (1925–2019) writer and satirst from the United States

"The Face Game" (p.215)
So This Is Depravity (1980)

“Maybe they didn't make vampires out of ugly people. Or maybe ugly people just didn't want to live forever.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Bones

Source: City of Bones

“We mean by "politics" the people's business — the most important business there is.”

Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965) mid-20th-century Governor of Illinois and Ambassador to the UN

Speech in Chicago, Illinois (19 November 1955)

“So many people in show business go into politics, and I used to say "What the heck do they know about it?" But when you travel around, you really do get to feel — not to be cliche — the pulse of the country and what people want. I'm concerned and it's not good to be unconcerned and just sit there.”

Cass Elliot (1941–1974) American singer

Appearance on The Mike Douglas Show; as quoted at the official Cass Elliot website http://www.casselliot.com/career.htm
Context: I think I would like to be a Senator or something in twenty years. I don't think I really know enough yet. I'm just 30 now and I wouldn't even be eligible to run for office for another five years. But I have a lot of feelings about things. I know the way I would like to see things for this country and in my travels, when I talk to people, everybody wants pretty much the same thing: peace, enough jobs, no poverty and good education. And I've learned a lot. It's funny. So many people in show business go into politics, and I used to say "What the heck do they know about it?" But when you travel around, you really do get to feel — not to be cliche — the pulse of the country and what people want. I'm concerned and it's not good to be unconcerned and just sit there.

“I wanted to make it clear that the show’s about a matriarchy. I wanted it to be clear that power can be ugly, and a matriarchy is just as ugly as a patriarchy. It may look a little different, but power is bloody.”

Gillian Flynn (1971) American author and critic

On how the matriarchy is portrayed in Sharp Objects in “Gillian Flynn Isn’t Going to Write the Kind of Women You Want” https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/06/gillian-flynn-isnt-going-to-write-the-kind-of-women-you-want in Vanity Fair (2018 Jun 28)