Politics & Power Quote by Jeffrey Archer

A politician insisting he is "not involved in politics any more" is already doing politics, just by choosing the frame. Jeffrey Archer’s line works because it performs resignation while smuggling in a counter-argument: the second clause, "and they’re quite right", sounds like humility but plays like a dare. Who are "they"? Critics, journalists, party gatekeepers, the public. By leaving them vague, Archer turns disapproval into a kind of chorus, then claims to accept it. Acceptance becomes strategy.

The phrasing is brisk, almost clipped, like a damage-control memo. "Any more" signals a fall from an earlier identity; it admits a before-and-after without naming the rupture. Archer’s public life is tangled with scandal, conviction, and reinvention, and this quote sits neatly inside that arc: the gesture of retreat that still keeps the speaker central. He’s not fighting the verdict; he’s validating it, which disarms the listener. If you concede the point, you deprive opponents of the pleasure of landing it.

There’s also a sly inversion of accountability. "They’re quite right" implies an impartial standard has been met, as if the decision to exile him from politics were simply good governance. The subtext: I’m above the fray now; you can’t punish me if I’ve already walked away. It’s contrition shaped like control, a final attempt to author the ending.