Ben Jonson Quotes

Good government is the outcome of private virtue.

Leaders can be moral-and they should be moral-without imposing their morality on others.

Leaders must live by higher standards than their followers.

Those who really deserve praise are the people who, while human enough to enjoy power, nevertheless pay more attention to justice than they are compelled to do by their situation.

I'm convinced that a person in my position must provide a positive example to people.

Setting a good example is a far better way to spread ideals than through force of arms.

We reform others unconsciously when we walk uprightly.

A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example.

Morality is not only taught; it is caught.

... by example and by kind moral influence.

A courageous and humane ruler who means well towards his subjects will induce the wicked to change their attitude of mind.

There are no good and bad peoples; there are only leaderships that behave responsibly or insanely.

If you are going to be a leader, you must have a record where people saw you are standing up against injustice at a risk. Then that builds up your stock of credibility so that, when you speak on another occasion about a different thing, people will pay attention.

We need moral leadership and courage in our world.

Refrain from doing ill; for one all powerful reason, lest our children should copy our misdeeds; we are all too prone to imitate whatever is base and depraved.

Honest people know that the road to success and virtue always involves shared sacrifice, hard work, and gratification postponed. Telling people otherwise isn't leadership, it is pandering.

The best state is that in which bad men are not allowed to hold office, and good men are not allowed to refuse office.

Power doesn't always corrupt. Power can cleanse. What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals.

Leaders must understand that some people will inevitably sell out to the evil side. Don't waste your time wondering why; spend your time discovering who.

The administration of government lies in getting proper men. Such men are to be got by means of the ruler's own character. That character is to be cultivated by his treading in the ways of duty. And the treading those ways of duty is to be cultivated by the cherishing of benevolence.

I've spent eight years in Congress avoiding moral language. I represent a swing district. I believe profoundly in not challenging the motives of your opponents. But more and more, we're in a world where leaders have to speak up, and speak in strong moral terms.

Be the most ethical, the most responsible, the most authentic you can be with every breath you take, because you are cutting a path into tomorrow that others will follow.

We must become the people we want our children to be.

Great men never make bad use of their superiority. They see it and feel it and are not less modest. The more they have, the more they know their own deficiencies.

He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man.