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Sometimes I am convinced there is nothing wrong with this country that couldn't be cured by the magical implantation of ethical standards on us all - leaders and followers. Until that becomes doable, the Center for Public Integrity is just about the best thing we have going for us.
Ben Bradlee
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote expresses a belief that ethical standards can improve society, highlighting the importance of integrity.

In this quote, Ben Bradlee reflects on the challenges facing society and suggests that the root issues can be addressed through the universal adoption of ethical standards. He emphasizes that both leaders and citizens must uphold these values to create positive change, and until such a transformation is possible, organizations like the Center for Public Integrity play a crucial role in promoting honesty and accountability.

Themes

Ethical StandardsIntegritySocietyLeadershipAccountability

In practice

Example use cases

During a speech about the importance of ethics in public service.

More from Ben Bradlee

Hire people smarter than you are and encourage them to bloom.
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The really tough thing would have been to decide to take Woodward and Bernstein off the story. They were carrying the coal for us - in that their stories were right.
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As long as a journalist tells the truth, in conscience and fairness, it is not his job to worry about consequences. The truth is never as dangerous as a lie in the long run. I truly believe the truth sets men free.
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It changes your life, the pursuit of truth.
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Sure, some journalists use anonymous sources just because they’re lazy, and I think editors ought to insist on more precise identification even if they remain anonymous.
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Nothing's riding on this, except the First Amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press and maybe the future of the country. Not that any of that matters, but if you guys f-k up again, I'm gonna get mad.
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