Robert Byrd Quotes

People hold elected officials to a higher ethical standard than most others.

Elected officials have always been held to a higher standard, as we should be.

Public officers are the trustees of the people.

You are not electing your parliamentarian or your MP to the corridors of power. You are electing them to the corridors of responsibility.

When you won that title you should know now that you are representing a whole country or nation with your actions and you are now in a glass house or under a microscope and you better be ready to make your people proud.

Our people expect the best of us. They send us to take care of the people's business, and those of us who take hold of that responsibility understand that's what it's really about.

In Minnesota, we hold our leaders to a higher standard. We demand that the men and women we send to Washington stand above reproach and steer clear of the web of corruption, kickbacks and special favors.

All political power is a trust.

I am not one of those senators who feel it is necessary for the Senate to pass a resolution binding the membership to be honorable men. If I thought it was necessary to pass a resolution to make us honorable, I would not want to be a member of this body.

There are certain things, when you get into public office, that you just should not do.

Congress is afraid of the voters, and the voters are looking for leadership.

I am not on trial here, Mr. Chairman. This committee is on trial here before the American people. Let us get that straight.

I have been in public office and have been criticized. I do not object to it. A public official should be willing to be criticized. An agent of the people of this country should be called to account.

As the leaders of this great country, I urge my fellow colleagues in the House, governors, and presidential candidates alike to hold ourselves up to a higher standard.

If I had chosen the populist course, it would have been a breach of the trust placed in me by the people.

I think the voters believe that when you become president of the United States, you have a higher obligation and a higher standard than anybody in the world. And if you violate that standard, they're going to remember it on election day.

And the people I have been accountable to every single day in the Senate are the 27 million Texans who I represent and I made a promise to them that I make to you today, which is, if I am elected, every single day I will do two things: tell the truth, and do what I said I would do.

It has been an incredible honour and privilege to serve Ontarians as their premier.

I am determined to honour the confidence which has been extended to us by the people of our great land. And I say to all of those who have voted for us today, I say to each and every one of them that I will be a prime minister for all Australians.

As Members of Congress, we should not be using public office for private gain.

The mistake a lot of politicians make is in forgetting they've been appointed and thinking they've been anointed.

When you sign your name on the dotted line, it's more than just playing baseball. You have a responsibility to make good decisions and show people how things are supposed to be done.

The duty of responsibility placed on any MP is one of the greatest honours that can be bestowed and I for one don't believe the Conservative Party would abuse that trust by selecting someone who did not have the goods to do the job, just for the sake of media coverage.

To every New Yorker - and to all those who believed in what I tried to stand for - I sincerely apologize.

You elected government officials to make decisions and it's about time they started making good ones.