A Public Servant Quotes & Sayings

He who doesn't know how to be a servant should never be allowed to be a master; the interests of public life are alien to anyone who is unable to enjoy others' successes, and such a person should never be entrusted with public affairs. — Anton Chekhov

If there's anything a public servant hates to do it's something for the public. — Kin Hubbard

To serve the public interest is not the same as being a servant of public opinion. — Sidney Hook

You don't have to be an elected official to be a public servant. — William J. Clinton

that Christianity should be equated in the public mind, inside as well as outside the Church, with 'organized religion' merely shows how far we have departed from the New Testament. For the last thing the Church exists to be is an organization for the religious. Its charter is to be the servant of the world. — John A.T. Robinson

Throughout my entire public career I have followed the personal philosophy that I am a free man, an American, a public servant, and a member of my party, in that order always and only. — Lyndon B. Johnson

Being a politician is a poor profession. Being a public servant is a noble one. — Herbert Hoover

Whether a man is a criminal or a public servant is purely a matter of perspective. — Tom Robbins

I am not a perfect servant. I am a public servant doing my best against the odds. As I develop and serve, be patient. God is not finished with me yet. — Jesse Jackson

I am primarily engaged to myself to be a public servant of all the gods, to demonstrate to all men that there is intelligence andgood will at the heart of all things, and even higher and yet higher leadings. These are my engagements; how can your law further or hinder me in what I shall do to men? — Ralph Waldo Emerson

In the end, Ted Kennedy was a politician, plain and simple. Yet he embodied how politics and public service can be successfully intertwined. You can't be a good public servant without being a good politician. Kennedy was both. — Chuck Todd

Being a politician means never having to say you're sorry. You don't have to say, 'I never should have voted to subsidize that ridiculous Enron project in India.' ... After all, they're greedy businessmen and you're a selfless public servant. — Harry Browne

Being a public servant, this is a serious job, not like a boxer, you're entertaining people. — Manny Pacquiao

I am a career public servant. Until the aftermath of Benghazi, I loved every day of my job. — Greg Hicks

Each confrontation between Jesus and another person or group reveals what we do to each other, personally and on a public level. Each is an indictment against Christians, followers of the man crucified, the suffering servant, the Lamb of God. — Megan McKenna

I think that the best profession or the best thing to do is to be a public servant. I mean there's nothing better than working for the people - for the common people and being a public servant, and I have seen this. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Disloyalty in trusted servants is one of the most disheartening things that can happen to a public performer. — Harry Houdini

[A Letter to the Culture that Raised Me] I'm not here to be on display. And my body is not for public consumption. I will not be reduced to an object, or a pair of legs to sell shoes. I'm a soul, a mind, a servant of God. My worth is defined by the beauty of my soul, my heart, my moral character. So I won't worship your beauty standards, and I don't submit to your fashion sense. My submission is to something higher. — Yasmin Mogahed

As a husband, father and public servant, I'm thankful for the counsel and wisdom of my older brothers - Bill, who was a priest, and Kevin, who is a priest. — Denis McDonough

Sexual orthodoxy and the exercise of power. If a President can't keep his pants on, does he lose the right to rule us? If a public servant cheats on his wife does this make him more likely to cheat on the electorate? For myself, I'd rather be ruled by an adulterer, by some sexual rogue, than by a prim celibate or zipped-up spouse. As criminals tend to specialize in certain crimes, so corrupt politicians normally specialize in their corruption: the sexual blackguards stick to fucking, the bribe-takers to graft. In which case it would make more sense to elect proven adulterers instead of discouraging them from public life. I — Julian Barnes

Come. I was on my way to the park; I know a quiet spot where you can sit down."
"In public? With a servant?" I protest as he starts to draw me down the street.
"What is the point of being the duke's heir if I can't cause a scandal now and then? — Rosamund Hodge

I admire John Boehner greatly. He's a great public servant. I think people are going to miss him in the long run because he's a person that is focused on solving problems. — Jeb Bush

What constitutes a good manager in this field? He must be knowledgeable in the art with which he is concerned, an impresario, labor negotiator, diplomat, educator, publicity and public relations expert, politician, skilled businessman, a social sophisticate, a servant of the community, a tireless leader - becomingly humble before authority - a teacher, a tyrant, and a continuing student of the arts. — John D. Rockefeller

One great blemish in the popular mind of America and the prolific parent of an innumerable brood of evils, is Universal Distrust ... you no sooner set up an idol firmly, than you are sure to pull it down and dash it into fragments: and this because directly you reward a benefactor, or a public servant, you distrust him, merely because he is rewarded ... Any man who attains a high place among you, from the President downwards, may date his downfall from that moment. — Charles Dickens

As a public servant, William H. Webster has an impeccable resume. — Alex Berenson

Today, more than ever, citizens demand with good reason that moral and ethical principles be upheld and that exemplariness preside over our public life. And the king, as the head of state, must not only be an example but also a servant to that just and legitimate demand of the citizens. — King Felipe VI

I dont believe in labels. I want to do the best I can, all the time. I want to be progressive without getting both feet off the ground at the same time. I want to be prudent without having my mind closed to anything that is new or different. I have often said that I was proud that I was a free man first and an American second, and a public servant third and a Democrat fourth, in that order, and I guess as a Democrat, if I had to takeplace a label on myself, I would want to be a progressive who is prudent. — Lyndon B. Johnson

People want an idol. They want royalty. They don't want a public servant. Hell no. They want someone to clap for and go, "Oh, he touched my hand at the rally!" — Doug Stanhope

I like some of the young guys like Senator Thune. He's a guy that looks good. He's very articulate, he's very smart, and he truly is a public servant. — John Boozman

It's not really the job of a public servant to inspire, but to get the job that the people demand done. The Democrats think that if they have hope and are inspired, things will get better, but they actually won't. — Roseanne Barr

Al Gonzales is a dedicated public servant and exceptionally qualified to be our nation's next Attorney General. I know that a lot has been said about Judge Gonzales' life story. It is a story of the fulfillment of the American Dream. — Mel Martinez

It was Mario Cuomo's great gift and our good fortune that he was both a sterling orator and a passionate public servant. His life was a blessing. — William J. Clinton

So I'm cruising down the road and the object of my thoughts is racing down the street, screaming that her father is a cop. A public servant, very flattering"
" I like a man in uniform"
He laughed. 'Do you like pizza?'
'What a ridiculous question. I suppose you're going to ask me if I like pasta next? — Melina Marchetta

I only wish, while I am a servant of the public, to know the will of my masters, that I may govern my self accordingly. — George Washington

As a policymaker, as a public servant, I come to Washington, D.C., and I make difficult decisions and I make difficult decisions every day. And sometimes those decisions upset people. — Jon Tester

We have lost a true public servant with the passing of Alan Nunnelee, who dedicated so much of his life to improving Mississippi, my thoughts and prayers are with Tori and the entire Nunnelee family at this sad time. — Thad Cochran

Ronald Reagan, whatever his pros and cons were, was a public servant in the end. — Eugene Jarecki

The very violence of a revolution may make the public grand and splendid for a moment. It was a fatal day when the public discovered that the pen is mightier than the paving-stone, and can be made as offensive as the brickbat. They at once sought for the journalist, found him, developed him, and made him their industrious and well-paid servant. It is greatly to be regretted, for both their sakes. Behind the barricade there may be much that is noble and heroic. But what is there behind the leading-article but prejudice, stupidity, cant and twaddle? — Oscar Wilde

You know, public service is serious enough on its own, and what I've found is if you take yourself take yourself too seriously in this business, you'll lose sight of what it is that you're trying to get done. So I mean I've tried to have the proper mix of being a serious public servant, but also still being a regular guy. — Michael Nutter

Everything that I've accomplished in life was because of America and because of California, so I should take seven years out of my life to be a public servant and to serve the people of California regardless of the lack of pay. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I believe if a private citizen is able to affect public opinion in a constructive way he doesn't have to be an elected public servant to perform a public service. — Warren Beatty

A good king is a public servant. — Ben Jonson

My heart and passion has always been to reform the criminal justice system. I want to be a public servant, and I wanted to be a prosecutor because I felt it was the best way forward. — Marilyn Mosby

Whether to the nation or to the state, no service can be or ever will be rendered by a more able or a more faithful public servant. — John Quincy Adams

The privilege of creating and issuing money is not only the supreme prerogative of Government, but it is the Government's greatest creative opportunity. By the adoption of these principles, the long-felt want for a uniform medium will be satisfied. The taxpayers will be saved immense sums of interest, discounts and exchanges. The financing of all public enterprises, the maintenance of stable government and ordered progress, and the conduct of the Treasury will become matters of practical administration. The people can and will be furnished with a currency as safe as their own government. Money will cease to be the master and become the servant of humanity. Democracy will rise superior to the money power. — Abraham Lincoln

I am in favor of a foreign policy that will cultivate relations of peace with all nations, and I will never give my influence, either as a private citizen or a public servant, for war, so long as it can be honorably avoided. — Ambrose Burnside

[Joseph Bucklin Bishop said] "...The peculiarity about him is that he has what is essentially a boy's mind. What he thinks he says at once, says aloud. It is his distinguishing characteristic, and I don't know as he will ever outgrow it. But with it he has great qualities which make him an invaluable public servant--inflexible honesty, absolute fearlessness, and devotion to good government which amounts to religion. We must let him work his way, for nobody can induce him to change it. — Edmund Morris

If my church attempted to influence me in a way which was improper or which affected adversely my responsibilities as a public servant sworn to uphold the Constitution, then I would reply to them that this was an improper action on their part. It was one to which I could not subscribe. — John F. Kennedy

I'm very old-fashioned in some ways because of my father, who thought that being a public servant was an honor. Everyone must find a capacity in which they can serve, because we all benefit from society. — Kathleen Turner

It was a fatal day when the public discovered that the pen is mightier than the paving-stone, and can be made as offensive as the brickbat. They at once sought for the journalist, found him, developed him, and made him their industrious and well-paid servant. It is greatly to be regretted, for both their sakes. — Oscar Wilde

I can be a champion and a public servant also. — Manny Pacquiao

The [Nazi party] should not become a constable of public opinion, but must dominate it. It must not become a servant of the masses, but their master! — Adolf Hitler

I was brought up to believe that the Christian God wasn't a scared and compromising public servant, but the creator of the whole merciless truth, and I reckon that training spoiled me
I actually took my teachers seriously! — Sinclair Lewis

Throughout his many years, he enriched the lives of countless others and served as a model of generosity and discipline to those he met, fostering an atmosphere of compassion, harmony, and unity. Sri Chinmoy was a leader, humanitarian, artist, athlete, and public servant who will be sorely missed. His legacy of kindness, reflection, and resolve will endure for many years to come. — William J. Clinton

David Cohen is without a doubt one of the best - if not the best - public servant I've ever encountered. — Raymond Kelly

Mitch McConnell, 72, is second only to Henry Clay as the state'€s most consequential public servant. McConnell's skills have been honed through five terms. He is, however - let us say the worst - not cuddly. National Review has said he has 'an owlish, tight-lipped public demeanor reminiscent of George Will.' Harsh. But true. — George Will

Why did people do it? Why this herd curiosity about a street, a house, windows, doors? He was a public servant, the Inspector mused, but there were times when he would enjoy loading all the rubbernecks onto barges and towing them out to sea to be served, with ceremony, to sharks. — Ellery Queen