Public officers are the servants and agents of the people, to execute the laws which the people have made.
Grover ClevelandRead
Officeholders are the agents of the people, not their masters. Not only is their time and labor due to the government, but they should scrupulously avoid in their political action, as well as in the discharge of their official duty, offending by a display of obtrusive partisanship their neighbors who have relations with them as public officials.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Public officials should serve the people rather than dominate them, maintaining impartiality in their duties.
This quote emphasizes that those in positions of authority, such as government officials, are meant to act as representatives of the people who elected them, rather than exercising control over them. It insists on the importance of neutrality and fairness in government affairs, advising officials to avoid showing blatant favoritism that could alienate or offend constituents, highlighting the ethical responsibility of public servants towards their community.
Themes
Public OfficialsServiceImpartialityGovernmentPolitics
In practice
Example use cases
In a political speech advocating for transparency, this quote illustrates the responsibility of elected officials.
More from Grover Cleveland
All quotes →Unswerving loyalty to duty, constant devotion to truth, and a clear conscience will overcome every discouragement and surely lead the way to usefulness and high achievement.
Grover ClevelandRead
Though the people support the government; the government should not support the people.
Grover ClevelandRead
Your every voter, as surely as your chief magistrate, exercises a public trust.
Grover ClevelandRead
It is the responsibility of the citizens to support their government. It is not the responsibility of the government to support its citizens.
Grover ClevelandRead
Once the coffers of the federal government are opened to the public, there will be no shutting them again.
Grover ClevelandRead
Similar quotes
Our ability to participate in government, to elect our leaders and to improve our lives is contingent upon our ability to access the ballot. We know in our heart of hearts that voting is a sacred right - the fount from which all other rights flow.
Stacey AbramsRead
Give me your four year olds, and in a generation I will build a socialist state.
Vladimir LeninRead
No measure can be more desirable, whether viewed with an eye to its intrinsic importance, or to the general sentiment and wish of the Nation than to establish a systematic and effectual arrangement for the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt.
George WashingtonRead
There seems to be an increasing awareness of something we Americans have known for some time - that the ten most dangerous words in the English language are "Hi, I'm from the government, and I'm here to help."
Ronald ReaganRead
There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses.
Andrew JacksonRead
Democracies have been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their death.
James MadisonRead