Public officers are the servants and agents of the people, to execute the laws which the people have made.
Grover ClevelandRead
Party honesty is party expediency.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that political honesty is often sacrificed for practical benefits.
Grover Cleveland's quote points to the idea that, in politics, individuals often prioritize expediency and advantage over genuine honesty. It implies that political actions may be driven more by the desire for practical outcomes—which may not align with true integrity—rather than adhering strictly to ethical principles. This highlights a common tension within political discourse where moral integrity and practical decision-making may conflict.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a political debate to emphasize the importance of integrity.
Public officers are the servants and agents of the people, to execute the laws which the people have made.
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.
Though the people support the government; the government should not support the people.
Your every voter, as surely as your chief magistrate, exercises a public trust.
It is the responsibility of the citizens to support their government. It is not the responsibility of the government to support its citizens.
Once the coffers of the federal government are opened to the public, there will be no shutting them again.
I personally hope and wish that Britain will stay part and parcel of the European Union.
Among the numerous advantages promised by a well-constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction.
The power of the State must be invoked for restoring economic freedom just as it has been invoked for destroying economic freedom.
Politics is who gets what, when, how.
There is a fundamental difference between the Polish experience of the state and the Russian experience. In the Polish experience, the state was always a foreign power. So, to hate the state was a patriotic act.
Political ignorance helps explain Americans' perpetual disappointment with politicians generally, and presidents especially, to whom voters unrealistically attribute abilities to control events.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.