John Dos Passos Quotes

Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees; and both the trust and trustees are created for the benefit of the public.

If the great servants of the public forget their duty, betray their trust and sell their country, or make war against the most valuable rights and privileges of the people; reason and justice require that they should be discarded, and others appointed in their room, without any regard to formal resignations of their forfeited power.

We have the incredible privilege of serving in the highest offices in the state. We must prove ourselves worthy of our fellow citizens' faith. We must be trusted to always place the public's good above our own and to always choose fairness over favoritism.

It is only when there is the supervision and critical oversight from the people that the government will be in a position to do an even better job, and employees of government departments will be the true public servants of the people.

I am committed to working towards a more transparent, accountable, and ethical federal government worthy of the public's trust.

It is imperative to build a contingent of public servants who are politically reliable, professionally competent, and clean and honest, and have a good work style.

… a right-minded and true-hearted statesman who has had as much sovereign power placed in his hands as you have placed in mine should regard himself as the servant of the Senate; and often of the people as a whole; and sometimes of private citizens, too.

The best citizens were supposed to desire honest men in office, men who would not take bribes, men who would appoint high-minded men as their subordinates, men who would look after the public interest, see that public charities were well supported.

I have been in public office and have been criticized. I do not object to it. A public official should be willing to be criticized. An agent of the people of this country should be called to account.

You will find me standing up to my rack, as the people's faithful representative, and the public's most obedient, very humble servant.

It is important that politicians defend their ability to act without fear or favour, and it is in the public interest that they hold ministers and public servants to account.

When you decide you're going to be a public servant, you should not be able to take on interests that conflict with the city.

I undertake that, in the exercise of my functions of that office I will have regard to any guidance with respect to ethical standards issued by the secretary of state under Section 66 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999.

Public servants are paid to serve the American people. Do it well.

After all, I have spent the better part of my adult life insisting that government be open... that government be accessible... and that government be held accountable to people who voted us into office.

No one in government should ever think that the citizens they work for can't or won't scrutinize their actions.

Too many people in government seem to think they are above regular folks, and I said I would expect humility in the way each member of my team served- that they would recognize that the taxpayer is boss.

We need more of the Office Desk and less of the Show Window in politics. Let men in office substitute the midnight oil for the limelight.

You will find in me a loyal head of state who is ready listen and understand, warn and advise as well as to defend the public interest at all times.

I want to lead a government humble enough to know its place.

We are living in an era of transformation where we will all have to reckon with a number of revolutionary changes and challenges for the public sector. In the move towards globalization, the public is becoming more and more knowledgeable about their rights and requirements. As such, the need to revisit our traditional ways of offering public services is inescapable, if we want to ensure the establishment of a more caring public service.

The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created

It is a very great misfortune that persons employed in the most important Departments should ... have separate interests from the publick whom they profess to serve.

Choose the manager of your government as you would the manager of your private business.

Pubic business must be done. It will be done one way or another. If wise men refuse it, others will not. If honest men refuse it, others will not.