Robert M. La Follette Quotes

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

Having been given that public trust, we have a responsibility to share with the public.

Incivility is not the disease. It is the symptom. Partisanship is the disease…. When your highest duty is to your party, the public interest becomes subservient.

I am a public servant … not a political servant, not a party servant.

Those who do not serve the public interest should not hold a public license.

Common carriers exercise a sort of public office, and have duties to perform in which the public is interested.... Their business is, therefore, affected with a public interest

The very essence of a free government consists in considering offices as public trusts, bestowed for the good of the country, and not for the benefit of an individual or party.

Anyone who believes in the essential role government can play in improving people's lives must also be the toughest critics of those who abuse the public trust.

It's my father's legacy. My father's view was that the public is the employer of these government employees and has the right to know what they're up to.

We have the incredible privilege of serving in the highest offices in the state. We must prove ourselves worthy of our fellow citizens' faith. We must be trusted to always place the public's good above our own and to always choose fairness over favoritism.

A public office is not a job, it is an opportunity to do something for the public.

People are so docile right now. It is almost as if good government means when the politicians lie to us for our own good, for the public good, and bad government is when politicians lie for their own selfish interests.

Government is not show business.

The administration of government, like a guardianship ought to be directed to the good of those who confer, not to those who receive the trust.

If you accept the privilege of public service, you had better understand the responsibilities of public service.

If parties in a republic are necessary to secure a degree of vigilance sufficient to keep the public functionaries within the bounds of law and duty, at that point their usefulness ends.

He serves his party best who helps to make it instantly responsive to every need of the people.

For me, public service is an honor, and I have the ultimate respect for the rule of law.

An intuitive part of the American ethos is a kind of protectiveness of the public's fear. We have to remember how unique that is. As scandal-ridden as we may be, we start with a basic expectation that it's not your job in public service to use it to help your friend.

I happen to respect people who are willing to come under public scrutiny and serve their country.

The power to investigate is a great public trust.

If you make the choice to serve the public, public service, then serve the public, not yourself.

If you were a public official, you had to be accountable, and you had to be reachable.

I believe we need to attract a new generation of the best and brightest to public service and I believe that government can be a source of inspiration, not degradation.

Let's just do what is right for the American people. And those of us who are involved in politics and government know that our responsibility is to the American people, that we have a responsibility to find our common ground, to seek it and to find it.