Politics is not bean bags. It's serious, tough stuff.

Hear the words of Colin Powell, soldier and statesman, who declared with the authority of experience: “Politics is not bean bags. It’s serious, tough stuff.” In this saying lies the voice of one who knew the weight of power and the cost of decisions. He reminds us that politics is not a game of leisure, not a child’s pastime, but a battleground of will and consequence. Those who step into it must understand that lives are shaped, nations are steered, and futures are decided.

The phrase “not bean bags” reaches back to an old American saying, first uttered in the 19th century, where politicians compared politics to the game of tossing soft bags of beans. The metaphor was clear: politics is not soft play, it is combat with words, strategy, and decisions that cut deeply. Powell revives this truth for our age, warning that the stakes of political life are not toys, but burdens that demand resilience and courage. For in politics, honor is tested, reputations are scarred, and choices echo for generations.

To call it “serious, tough stuff” is to proclaim that politics requires not only cunning, but endurance. It is not for the faint of heart, nor for those who believe only in easy victories. Consider the struggles of Abraham Lincoln, who bore insults, betrayals, and crushing defeats before leading a nation through civil war. The path of politics for him was not soft or gentle; it was filled with sorrow and blood. Yet it was through this toughness that he forged union from chaos and became a figure of enduring reverence.

Powell himself, a general who had seen the harsh realities of war, knew that politics is a battlefield of a different kind. The weapons are not muskets and cannons, but words, laws, alliances, and compromises. Yet the wounds they deliver can be as lasting as any on the body, for they shape the destiny of millions. Thus his words serve as warning: those who approach politics as though it were a pleasant contest will soon be broken by its storms. Only those prepared for hardship can endure its trials.

History offers us another lesson in Winston Churchill. For decades he was mocked, sidelined, and cast out of favor, yet he persisted in the harsh arena of politics. When the world descended into the fires of the Second World War, it was this hardened spirit that rose to lead Britain with courage and defiance. His story shows that politics, like war, demands persistence, resilience, and an unyielding spirit. He survived because he knew it was not play, but the most serious of human struggles.

The lesson is plain: do not mistake politics for a game. It is the craft by which justice is defended or denied, peace is nurtured or broken, freedom is protected or destroyed. Those who engage in it must prepare for struggle, must be willing to endure insult, resistance, and loss. Yet they must also remember that the toughness it demands is not for personal glory, but for the higher cause of serving people, nations, and truth.

In practice, this means: if you enter political life, enter with clear eyes and steady heart. Do not grow bitter at hardship, nor naïve at victory. Expect resistance, but persist in principle. Seek not the comfort of bean bags, but the discipline of the battlefield. And if you do not step into politics yourself, then at least honor its seriousness—choose your leaders wisely, demand integrity, and recognize the weight of what is at stake.

So let Powell’s words echo as a commandment across the ages: “Politics is not bean bags. It’s serious, tough stuff.” Treat it with reverence, engage it with courage, and never forget that through its battles the lives of nations are forged. Those who endure its trials with integrity may falter in flesh, but their legacy will endure like iron in the chronicles of history.