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

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