Public officers are the servants and agents of the people, to execute the laws which the people have made.
Grover ClevelandRead
He mocks the people who proposes that the government shall protect the rich and that they in turn will care for the laboring poor.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote criticizes the idea that the wealthy can be trusted to care for the poor if the government supports them.
In this quote, Grover Cleveland is expressing skepticism about the notion that the rich, when given government support, will naturally take care of the less fortunate. Instead, he highlights a fundamental flaw in this thinking, suggesting that relying on the wealthy to be benevolent toward the poor is misguided and ignores the complexities of social responsibility and economic inequality.
Themes
GovernmentWealthResponsibilityPovertySocial Justice
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about economic inequality, one could use this quote to emphasize the need for governmental accountability.
More from Grover Cleveland
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Though the people support the government; the government should not support the people.
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Your every voter, as surely as your chief magistrate, exercises a public trust.
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It is the responsibility of the citizens to support their government. It is not the responsibility of the government to support its citizens.
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Once the coffers of the federal government are opened to the public, there will be no shutting them again.
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