Henry F. Ashurst Quotes

In public politics as in private life, character is better than brains, and loyalty more valuable than either.

I am the only public servant and the only Mexican President ever who has made his finances public from before, during, and after public service.

A nation which has forgotten the quality of courage which in the past has been brought to public life is not as likely to insist upon or regard that quality in its chosen leaders today - and in fact we have forgotten.

I haven't had a dull day since coming to Capitol Hill ... We're on the spot 100 percent of the time.

Men who have greatness within them don't go into politics.

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

It does take courage to be in public life.

Take egoism out and you would castrate the benefactors. Luther, Mirabeau, Napoleon, John Adams; and our nearer eminent public servants,—[Horace] Greeley, Theodore Parker, [Henry] Ward Beecher, Horace Mann, [William Lloyd] Garrison would lose their vigour.

The trust that goes with public service is a heavy burden on those who would lead us.

I have an obligation to the people of Illinois, to the Senate and to myself to leave the Senate while I am still eager to serve, not after I tire of serving.

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

Leadership is not manifested by coercion, even against the resented. Greatness is not manifested by unlimited pragmatism, which places such a high premium on the end justifying any means and any methods.

No one you'd really like to see in public office has the bad taste to run.

As the record of great figures in history shows, the correlation between a politician's sexual fidelity and his or her contribution to mankind is zero.

We must not in the course of public life expect immediate approbation and immediate grateful acknowledgement of our services. But let us persevere through abuse and even injury. The internal satisfaction of a good conscience is always present, and time will do us justice.

I am not the type of politician who will tell you I am going to act for my own benefit. The answer is no, I will continue to serve the public.

'Get along, go along' is not an inspirational philosophy, and only God knows how much moral cowardice it has covered up over the years. Serve your time, collect your chits, and cash 'em in for your home state? No, I'd say we could ask for more than that from our senators.

The Profile in Courage Award recognizes elected officials who choose to do what is right, not what is easy, so that we might learn from their example. Each time we give the award, we bear witness to the past for the sake of the future.

In 'Profiles in Courage,' my grandfather, John F. Kennedy, praised leadership that put country above party, elevated principles over petty politics and promoted progress before personal interests.

In Gov. Huckabee's case, consistency is seen as principle... and that's incredibly valuable to voters.

When you are in politics, and you are a genuine person who genuinely cares, then everything comes second.

I'm willing to take a polygraph test to prove that I'm happy about Kahlon's return to politics. He's a good man, a man who cares. It's good to have people like that in politics, I have no problem with that.

You have a person there in Senator McCain that has an integrity in him and will stand up for the political process.

Not everybody goes to government to serve themselves and not their country.

Giving up something personal to the public, you are surrendering something.