Good economics is good politics.
Paul KeatingRead
The only reward in a public life is public progress. You stand back and say, 'What did I get out of it?' You look around, and the place is better, and that's it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Public service is about the improvement of society rather than personal gain.
In this quote, Paul Keating emphasizes the idea that the true value of a public life lies not in personal rewards or accolades but in the positive changes made in the community. He suggests that when individuals engage in public service, their focus should be on the progress and betterment of society as a whole, rather than what they personally gain from their efforts.
Themes
Public ServiceCommunityLeadershipProgressSelflessness
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech at a community event, you might say this quote to inspire others to focus on improving the community.
More from Paul Keating
All quotes →Truth is, of its essence, liberating, as it is possessed of no contrivance or conceit - that it provides the only genuine basis for progress and that the future can only be found in truth.
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We took the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life. We brought the diseases and the alcohol. We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practised discrimination and exclusion. It was our ignorance and our prejudice. And our failure to imagine that these things could be done to us.
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The more we view the country through the prism of Aboriginality, the more likely we are to get the angle right.
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What the Anzac legend did do, by the bravery and sacrifice of our troops, was reinforce our own cultural notions of independence, mateship, and ingenuity. Of resilience and courage in adversity.
Paul KeatingRead
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