Daily Inspiration Quote by George Schultz

Schultz’s line reads like folksy traffic advice, but it’s really an indictment of a certain kind of “reasonable” politics. The middle of the road sounds safe in theory - moderation, pragmatism, bipartisanship - yet in practice it can be the most exposed place to stand. Cars don’t respect your intentions; they respond to where you are. That’s the quiet brutality of the metaphor: power moves, and it moves fast, and it punishes hesitation more than it rewards balance.

As a public servant who operated at the highest altitudes of Cold War governance, Schultz isn’t romanticizing centrism so much as warning about its occupational hazards. The subtext is tactical: if you choose a position defined mainly by not choosing, you invite attack from both camps and earn loyalty from neither. In polarized environments, the “middle” is often less a stable philosophy than a temporary staging ground - and everyone else treats it that way.

The phrasing also carries an insider’s cynicism about how institutions actually work. Policy isn’t a seminar where the best argument wins; it’s a roadway with momentum, impatience, and competing vehicles. Schultz’s intent is to push decision-makers toward clarity: pick a lane, build protection around it, and accept the costs. It’s not an argument against compromise so much as a reminder that compromise without a base, a coalition, or a clear direction becomes vulnerability dressed up as virtue.