Washington Quotes

“Image was fluff and fabricated. Reputation was solid and earned.”
― Meg Greenfield, Washington

“Each spring we go to big banquets, press and politicians all done up in formal dress, where everyone applauds the awarding of prizes to journalists who have exposed the crumminess of the political leaders sitting at the head table, joining in the ovation and fun. Lots of jokes are made. Lots of hands are shaken. It is a community affair.”
― Meg Greenfield, Washington

“We are professionally admonished to freeze many of our ordinary human instincts, to distance ourselves from too much personal knowledge of or contact with the people we write about, lest we endanger our objectivity or adulterate our product with an excess of understanding of their behavior or, God forbid, sympathy.”
― Meg Greenfield, Washington

“What I mean is how public people almost eagerly dehumanize themselves. They allow the markings of region, family, class, individual character, and, generally, personhood that they once possessed to be leached away. At the same time, they construct a new public self that often does terrible damage to what remains of the genuine person.”
― Meg Greenfield, Washington

“She was clearly an intellectual, but a far from purely academic one.”
― Meg Greenfield, Washington