'All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs," wrote British politician Enoch Powell half a century ago -- and then proceeded to demonstrate the truth of this proposition in his own lengthy but undistinguished political career.
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's soon-to-be ex-prime minister, has created her own "happy juncture". Last week, to the astonishment of practically everybody, she announced that she would resign from the office because "Politicians are human. We do all that we can for as long as we can, and then it's time. It's time."
That's not universally true, of course.
