John Howard Quotes

Would that the simple maxim, that honesty is the best policy, might be laid to heart; that a sense of the true aim of life might elevate the tone of politics and trade till public and private honor become identical.

Certainly he [Richard M. Nixon] is not of the generation that regards honesty as the best policy.

I could never be a career politician, because I believe in telling the truth.

I learned one thing in Watergate: I was well-intentioned but rationalized illegal behavior. You cannot live your life other than walking in the truth. Your means are as important as your ends.

I think the truth is always interesting, but with politicians, you don't get to see much of that.

Well, the truth is always what should be told. And the truth and the knowledge of the truth is what everybody should represent, regardless of the consequences of doing it.

Both politicians and journalists face situations which strain their honesty and humanity. My opinion is that politicians on the average stand up somewhat better than journalists.

It is not who is right, but what is right, that is of importance.

Truth is certainly a branch of morality and a very important one to society.

No public man can be just a little crooked.

Well, purity - there's no purity in politics.

We want to assert the very principle that truth is absolute, truth is supreme, truth is never disposable in national political life.

A taste for truth at any cost is a passion which spares nothing.

I've tried to do away with lying in my life in the last few years, but it's hard.

I'm not going to let people get away with either a dishonest or inaccurate premise to what we're talking about because I think that does the viewer a disturbance.

No matter what you do, be honest. That sticks out in Washington.

I’d love to say that politicians who lie should be indicted, but lying except under oath is not a crime—it’s a moral crime however.

Truth is a habit of integrity, not a strategy of politics.

Truth is the glue that holds government together. Compromise is the oil that makes governments go.

If I'm elected, at the end of four years or eight years I hope the people will say, "You know, Jimmy Carter made a lot of mistakes, but he never told a lie."

The best theater is trying to tell the truth, and the best politics is trying to tell the truth.

I feel a responsibility for telling the truth.

I never took a bribe. This is the truth, and there is no other.

The truth is the only thing that will move society forwards.

In science, if you stand up and say something you know is not correct, that's career-ending. It used to be that way in politics, but not anymore.