John Adams Quotes

My nomination to be Governor was not to gratify ambition.

I am not in politics to make more money.

To be interested in the public good we must be disinterested, that is, not interested in goods in which our personal selves are wrapped up.

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

He [Lincoln] has doctrines, not hatreds, and is without ambition except to do good and serve his country.

We are here to serve our citizens and not our ambitions.

We must take man as we find him, and if we expect him to serve the public we must interest his passions in doing so.

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.

I have become the chief minister not with a selfish motive.

I don't want to do anything that capitalizes personally on the fact that I've been in public service.

I'm not entering politics for name or fame.

If your desire for 'good' is based on greed, it is not good, but greed.

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

If I, taking care of everyone's interests, also take care of my own, you can't talk about a conflict of interest.

One never knows whether people have principles on principle or whether for their own personal satisfaction.

I'm inclined to think that, because it's such an awful life, that politicians do go into it for the best reasons. I mean, some may love the sound of their own voice. But it's such a wearying life, you've got to be impelled by some desire to leave the world a better place than when you came into it.

I get the feeling a lot of politicians are there to help themselves financially, first and foremost. I don't really need to do that, and I thought if I could do something for sport in Scotland, that would be really fulfilling.

Private passions tire and exhaust themselves, public ones never.

The sure mark of one born with noble qualities is being born without envy.

My main ambition is to be of use to my country and my people.

The fear of hell, or aiming to be blest, savors too much of private interest.

Join cooperatively with one another, put aside self-interest, and take on service to the public …

Government is just people acting on behalf of others rather than acting on behalf of themselves.

In order to maintain my own self-respect, I had to dedicate my life to something that was greater than my own self-interest.

It is the essence of responsibility to put the public good ahead of personal gain.