H. W. Brands Quotes

This idea that you can't be an honest man and a Washington politician is a myth, a crock made up by sellouts and careerist hacks who don't stand for anything and are impatient with people who do. It's possible to do this job with honor and dignity.

I always felt the true test of a man's character is how he treats people he can't use.

Our politics suffers from a shortage of people who put character and country before career and personal gain.

I think service is honorable, and that was always inculcated in me.

The notion that public service requires men and women of good character now seems quaint.

Within the hearts men, loyalty and consideration are esteemed greater than success.

Modesty seldom resides in a breast that is not enriched with nobler virtues.

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

I am not in politics to make more money.

There are, believe it or not, good politicians.

It is safest to be moderately base - to be flexible in shame, and to be always ready for what is generous, good, and just, when anything is to be gained by virtue.

We learned about dignity and decency - that how hard you work matters more than how much you make... that helping others means more than just getting ahead yourself.

What is called for is dignity. We need to set an example.

We want to bring back to Washington people who are more interested in public service than they are in private gain.

It is impossible for me, with any agreement to my sense of propriety, to accept any sort of compensation for services which I may endeavor to do upon a public account.

A deep concern of mine is that leaders in the technology sector have not developed a culture that insists upon courage, honor, duty, and humility - what we might call a culture of virtue.

Honor modesty more than your life.

The warrior's nobility is like a prostitute's smile, the truth of which is self-interest.

I didn't -- I swear I didn't -- get into politics to feather my nest or feather my friends' nests.

Goodness is about character - integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people.

I look for these qualities and characteristics in people. Honesty is number one, respect, and absolutely the third would have to be loyalty.

One goes through school, college, medical school and one's internship learning little or nothing about goodness but a good deal about success.

That statesman is indeed happy who can count as his friends the really honest and consistent, the true Patriots, and the men of honorable thought.

Great people have great values and great ethics.

My heroes are just everyday people who work hard, are honest and have integrity.