Now more than ever the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption.
Interpretation
The character of Congress reflects the people's attitudes; if Congress is flawed, it is due to public tolerance of these flaws.
This quote by James A. Garfield emphasizes the vital role the citizenry plays in shaping the quality and integrity of their government. It suggests that if the legislative body exhibits ignorance, recklessness, or corruption, it is a direct result of the people's complacency and acceptance of such behaviors. Therefore, it urges individuals to be more active and critical participants in democracy, holding their representatives accountable for their actions and standards.
In practice
During a town hall meeting about local governance, someone could quote Garfield to emphasize the need for civic engagement.
Statistical science is indispensable to modern statesmanship. In legislation as in physical science it is beginning to be understood that we can control terrestrial forces only by obeying their laws. The legislator must formulate in his statutes not only the national will, but also those great laws of social life revealed by statistics.
I am trying to do two things: dare to be a radical and not a fool, which is a matter of no small difficulty.
Justice and goodwill will outlast passion.
If the power to do hard work is not a skill, it's the best possible substitute for it.
Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained.
I never meet a ragged boy in the street without feeling that i may owe him a salute, for I know not what possibilities may be buttoned up under his coat.
You begin to realize that hypocrisy is not a terrible thing when you see what overt fascism is compared to sort of covert, you know, communal politics which the Congress has never been shy of indulging in.
I personally hope and wish that Britain will stay part and parcel of the European Union.
Persisting social crisis, the emergence of a charismatic personality, and the exploitation of mass media to obtain public confidence would be the steppingstones in the piecemeal transformation of the United States into a highly controlled society.
Always, since our birth, we've insisted on another way of doing politics. Now, we had the chance to do it without arms, but without stopping being Zapatistas; that's why we keep the masks on.
The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly Saddam can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.
Politics abhors a vacuum, and Asian countries will gravitate towards China if U.S. influence is perceived as declining.
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