When Henry Kissinger left Harvard and went to Washington to serve in the Nixon administration, he was asked by one his new colleagues about the poltical infighting in academia. “In Washington we’re famous for political intrigue – it’s our job,” someone asked, “but we’re pikers compared to the backstabbing and dirty politics at universities. Why do you people fight like that?”
Kissinger is said to have responded in his low gravelly voice, “It’s because the stakes are so low”.