Remember, politicians and diapers need to be changed frequently and for the same reason.

Power left too long in one place starts to stink, and the remedy is to swap it out regularly, without sentimentality. The joke works because it puts a dignified office next to a baby's diaper, and the comparison is blunt: the problem isn't that a particular politician is uniquely wicked, only that staying in place too long makes almost anyone go bad. The idea rests on the democratic tradition of term limits, regular elections and peaceful turnover, and on the old suspicion, voiced by Lord Acton, that power tends to corrupt. Williams was known for irreverent political comedy, which fits, though the line is also often credited to Mark Twain, and the true origin is uncertain.

In everyday life, the practical lesson is to judge officeholders by their record instead of by habit or loyalty. Before the next local or national election, you might spend twenty minutes reading what your representative actually did, then vote for or against them on that basis, even if you have backed their party for years. Treat your vote as a regular chore of hygiene, not a declaration of identity.