QuotesCosmos
This remark was first attributed to Kissinger, among others, in the 1970s. The Quote Verifier (2006) attributes it to political scientist Paul Sayre, but notes earlier similar remarks by Woodrow Wilson. Clyde J. Wingfield referred to it as a familiar joke in The American University (1970)
• Unattributed variants:
• Somebody once said that one of the reasons academic infighting is so vicious is that the stakes are so small. There's so little at stake and they are so nasty about it.
 • The Craft of Crime : Conversations with Crime Writers (1983) by John C. Carr
• The reason that academic politics is so vicious is that the stakes are so small.
 • Mentioned as an "old saw" in Teachers for Our Nation's Schools (1990) by John I. Goodlad
“

The reason that university politics is so vicious is that the stakes are so small.

— Henry Kissinger

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The reason that university politics is so vicious is that the stakes are so small." in the context of "This remark was first attributed to Kissinger, among others, in the 1970s. The Quote Verifier (2006) attributes it to political scientist Paul Sayre, but notes earlier similar remarks by Woodrow Wilson. Clyde J. Wingfield referred to it as a familiar joke in The American University (1970)
• Unattributed variants:
• Somebody once said that one of the reasons academic infighting is so vicious is that the stakes are so small. There's so little at stake and they are so nasty about it.
 • The Craft of Crime : Conversations with Crime Writers (1983) by John C. Carr
• The reason that academic politics is so vicious is that the stakes are so small.
 • Mentioned as an "old saw" in Teachers for Our Nation's Schools (1990) by John I. Goodlad" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Henry Kissinger" (Misattributed) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

Tags

#Henry Kissinger#university#politics#vicious#reason#stakes#small
Henry Kissinger

About Henry Kissinger

Henry Alfred Kissinger (born Heinz Alfred Kissinger; May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was a German-American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presidential administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He was a Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany with his family in 1938. For his actions negotiating a ceasefire in Vietnam, Kissinger received the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize under controversial circumstances, with two members of the committee resigning in protest.