"In physics, to be in two places at the same time would be a miracle; in politics it seems not merely normal, but natural"
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Being “in two places at the same time” is a neat little theft from physics: in the hard sciences, simultaneity is bounded by rules; in public life, it’s bounded mostly by shame. Edison’s line works because it frames political duplicity not as an occasional lapse but as an operating principle. The joke lands on the word “natural” - a quiet accusation that the public has been trained to treat contradiction as a feature, not a bug.
The specific intent is to mock the politician’s superpower: holding incompatible positions depending on the room, the audience, the donor, the headline. It’s not quantum weirdness, it’s rhetorical choreography. By invoking “miracle,” Edison also hints at a kind of secular religion around politics: voters are asked to believe in impossible things, and to call it pragmatism when leaders do it with a straight face.
Subtextually, this is about incentives. Politics rewards the appearance of stability while demanding constant adaptation; the result is a cultivated double life. You can campaign as an outsider while governing as an insider, promise restraint while expanding power, signal conviction while leaving every door open. Edison’s cynicism isn’t abstract - it’s managerial. As a businessman (and the son of Thomas Edison), he’s speaking from the vantage point of someone who expects systems to behave predictably and is exasperated by one that runs on ambiguity.
The context is mid-century American governance, when mass media, party machines, and wartime/postwar pressures made message control and strategic vagueness professionally valuable. Edison’s barb is timeless, but it’s also diagnostic: if hypocrisy feels “natural,” it’s because the ecosystem selects for it.
The specific intent is to mock the politician’s superpower: holding incompatible positions depending on the room, the audience, the donor, the headline. It’s not quantum weirdness, it’s rhetorical choreography. By invoking “miracle,” Edison also hints at a kind of secular religion around politics: voters are asked to believe in impossible things, and to call it pragmatism when leaders do it with a straight face.
Subtextually, this is about incentives. Politics rewards the appearance of stability while demanding constant adaptation; the result is a cultivated double life. You can campaign as an outsider while governing as an insider, promise restraint while expanding power, signal conviction while leaving every door open. Edison’s cynicism isn’t abstract - it’s managerial. As a businessman (and the son of Thomas Edison), he’s speaking from the vantage point of someone who expects systems to behave predictably and is exasperated by one that runs on ambiguity.
The context is mid-century American governance, when mass media, party machines, and wartime/postwar pressures made message control and strategic vagueness professionally valuable. Edison’s barb is timeless, but it’s also diagnostic: if hypocrisy feels “natural,” it’s because the ecosystem selects for it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
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