Chris Patten Quotes

My policy has always been to say what I believe to be in the best interest of the American people and hope the voters agree, or at least will respect my honesty.

There was in Italy a hidden demand for a boring government which would try to tell the truth in non-political jargon.

We're not going to have the America that we want until we elect leaders who are going to tell the truth - not most days, but every day.

Real Democrats don't make promises they can't keep.

As candidates and elected officials, we have an obligation to be honest.

If there were only one cherry pie in the world, and Bill Clinton owned it, I might get a piece of it. If Bush or Reagan owned it, you'd have to kill them to get a piece of pie. That's my feeling about Bill. And Bill's a good bullshitter. America likes a good bullshitter. That's one of the reasons he was re-elected. Honesty has no place in politics. It would throw everything off.

Before speaking, consult your inner-truth barometer, and resist the temptation to tell people only what they want to hear.

Good, bad or indifferent, I'm transparent with my opinions and what I believe. I just don't think in politics you can be that way.

Donald Trump is going to speak the truth to the American people.

The biggest thing I worry about is the unsubstantiated story. You have to tell the people what you know -- and acknowledge what you don't know.

It's perfectly legal in this country to change your mind. But when you're a governor, you have to admit it. You can't hide behind parliamentary tricks. That's the difference, and that's the kind of leader we need in the White House. Stop the Washington bull and let's get things done.

When you are influential and highly respected, people tend to tell you what you want to hear, not what you need to hear. They are seeking your approval, or they flatter you. Unfortunately, this creates a gap between what you hear and reality. If you find yourself in that situation, you will need to work extra hard to get the people close to you to speak honestly into your life. And you will have to become highly intentional in observing and listening.

Donald Trump is the most outspoken, transparent, here's what I want to do, here's what I think we should do. There's no mystery here. But since other politicians aren't that transparent, since they don't act that up front, they just can't accept that anybody would. So they're forever gonna be confused.

I think that Donald Trump is very concerned about finding the right way to be effective in a responsible way. And he wants to be effective.

I don't want people who just tell me what they think I want to hear, because that doesn't do me any good.

Be Impeccable with Your Word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean.

Benjamin Netanyahu is no Winston Churchill. Whatever else he, is he's not a Winston Churchill. He basically violated the great rule, which is it's better to mislead the people and to lose an election than to mislead the people and win an election.

I think Africa is slowly learning - and painfully - that importance of insisting on responsible leadership. It will come eventually, and we may be impatient and rightly so, because it is not coming fast enough. But that is the way to go.

A lot of us are too busy focusing on what we think people want to hear, as opposed to just saying what's in our hearts.

All I want is the same thing you want. To have a nation with a government that is as good and honest and decent and competent and compassionate and as filled with love as are the American people.

Regardless of how funny I want to be, I don't ever have a problem speaking from my heart or speaking honestly to people.

I'm a big believer that good policy is good politics. And so, when it comes to making decisions on policy issues, what I endeavor to do is simply speak the truth.

In music in general, you're always getting a lot of information, buts it's most important to have honest communication. It's always important to understand that we can do so much individually if we connect with one another and have honest conversations. As scary as it is, it can be very liberating. Staying connected to the people you love and staying connected to the things that really matter has been my biggest lesson.

In the 13 months I've been in the Senate, it has become apparent to me the single thing that Republican politicians hate and fear the most, and that is when they're forced to tell the truth. It makes their heads explode.

I am a democrat only on principle, not by instinct, nobody is that. Doubtless some people say they are, but this world is grievously given to lying.