QuoteProject
Officeholders are the agents of the people, not their masters. Not only is their time and labor due to the government, but they should scrupulously avoid in their political action, as well as in the discharge of their official duty, offending by a display of obtrusive partisanship their neighbors who have relations with them as public officials.
Grover Cleveland
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Public officials should serve the people rather than dominate them, maintaining impartiality in their duties.

This quote emphasizes that those in positions of authority, such as government officials, are meant to act as representatives of the people who elected them, rather than exercising control over them. It insists on the importance of neutrality and fairness in government affairs, advising officials to avoid showing blatant favoritism that could alienate or offend constituents, highlighting the ethical responsibility of public servants towards their community.

Themes

Public OfficialsServiceImpartialityGovernmentPolitics

In practice

Example use cases

In a political speech advocating for transparency, this quote illustrates the responsibility of elected officials.

More from Grover Cleveland

Public officers are the servants and agents of the people, to execute the laws which the people have made.
Grover ClevelandRead
Unswerving loyalty to duty, constant devotion to truth, and a clear conscience will overcome every discouragement and surely lead the way to usefulness and high achievement.
Grover ClevelandRead
Though the people support the government; the government should not support the people.
Grover ClevelandRead
Your every voter, as surely as your chief magistrate, exercises a public trust.
Grover ClevelandRead
It is the responsibility of the citizens to support their government. It is not the responsibility of the government to support its citizens.
Grover ClevelandRead
Once the coffers of the federal government are opened to the public, there will be no shutting them again.
Grover ClevelandRead

Similar quotes

Birtherism surely increased Americans' distrust of politics, though in ways that are hard to pin down. By contrast, when anti-vaxxers persuade parents not to vaccinate children, the result can be sickness and even death.
Anne ApplebaumRead
It's not normal that, when you close your eyes and listen to the news, too often the political back-and-forth in America sounds too much like it does in the kinds of countries that the State Department warns Americans not to travel to.
John F. KerryRead
Part of the challenge of being a black Republican anywhere is that you start off with people walking in with chips on their shoulder trying to figure out what is wrong with you.
Tim ScottRead
By virtually every metric, the liberal international order has made the world healthier, wealthier, wiser, more secure and more tolerant than it has ever been.
Antony BlinkenRead
By a steady adherence to the Union we may hope, erelong, to become the arbiter of Europe in America, and to be able to incline the balance of European competitions in this part of the world as our interest may dictate.
Alexander HamiltonRead
Without alienation, there can be no politics.
Arthur MillerRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.