All politics is based on the indifference of the majority.
James "Scotty" Reston (1909-1995) Scottish-American journalist and editor
“New York: Rockefeller Comes Out of His Trance,” New York Times (12 Jun 1968)
(Source)
This is cited in multiple places to this 1968 op-ed, to which I don't have access. Reston also used the phrase in this 1972 op-ed.
Quotations by:
Reston, James
In foreign policy you have to wait twenty-five years to see how it comes out.
James "Scotty" Reston (1909-1995) Scottish-American journalist and editor
International Herald Tribune, Paris (18 Nov 1991)
This is the devilish thing about foreign affairs: they are foreign and will not always conform to our whim.
James "Scotty" Reston (1909-1995) Scottish-American journalist and editor
New York Times (12 Jun 1968)