Gerald R. Ford Quotes

How could I get up there and say, 'People, we've got to do better,' when I was the poster child for everything that was wrong? I've always believed leaders don't ask others to do what they're unwilling to do.

If you look back at President Bush, nobody agreed with his policies, but you understood that he was doing things that he believed was right.

My guiding principle as president has been to try to do the right thing even when it's not politically convenient.

I think the greater responsibility, in terms of morality, is where leadership begins.

I always tried to do what I believed is right and I've always voted the way that I believe was the right way for my constituency, and that's what I'm doing when I govern.

In my presidency I've been guided by what's right, not what's popular.

You know, there's a difference between politicians and leaders. Politicians read poll numbers and compromise. Leaders do what's morally right.

I have always tried my best to do what I thought was the right thing at the time.

In the absence of their superior's adherence to the law, honorable men either speak up or get out

I am, now as before, of the opinion that I did the best that I could do for my nation. I therefore do not regret my conduct and will bear the consequences that result from my conduct.

I just want people to know that whatever decisions are made on any issue, I'll make them according to what I believe is in the public interest and my own conscience.

It isn't polls or public opinion at the moment that counts. It is right and wrong and leadership--men with fortitude, honesty, and a belief in the right that makes epochs in the history of the world.

It’s a good thing when you don’t dare do something if you don’t think it’s right. But it’s not good when you think something’s not right because you don’t dare do it.

There comes a time in your life when you focus solely on what you believe is right, regardless of what everybody else is doing.

No one wants to be a polarizer, but on the other hand, if you think you're doing right and you believe the decisions you make will lead to a better tomorrow, then they're worthy of defense.

Be strong. Don't be a follower, and always do the right thing. If you have a choice between the right thing and the wrong thing, the right way is always the less stressful.

I do believe that the buck stops here, that I cannot rely upon public opinion polls to tell me what is right. I do believe that right makes might and that if I am wrong, 10 angels swearing I was right would make no difference. I do believe, with all my heart and mind and spirit, that I, not as President but as a humble servant of God, will receive justice without mercy if I fail to show mercy.

Whatever the outcome may be, the important thing is to step forward on the path that you believe is right.

I have to do what's right.

There are actually very few US politicians who have integrity and vision.

Divorced from ethics, leadership is reduced to management and politics to mere technique.

Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.

There is no man more dangerous, in a position of power, than he who refuses to accept as a working truth the idea that all a man does should make for rightness and soundness, that even the fixing of a tariff rate must be moral.

The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.

I think the one thing that most stands out is that my father always did what he believed to be the right thing to do and he always told us that we had to go our own way even if he disagreed.