John Nance Garner Quotes

As Members of Congress, we should not be using public office for private gain.

A government job is an occasion for public service, not special privilege. The undivided loyalty to the public interest required of the governorship makes it inappropriate to keep the profusion of gifts that arrive every day at this office.

Honorariums are really dishonorariums. So long as they continue, public trust in Congress will sink even below its minimal level today.... Public officials should have only one paymaster: the Government. When the Government pays too little, the temptation to find other paymasters becomes far harder to resist.

There are certain things, when you get into public office, that you just should not do.

It is the essence of responsibility to put the public good ahead of personal gain.

I pledge to you today that for as long as I am your governor, I will not seek or accept any outside compensation from any source.

If you're in government, that's one of the one things you have to do is to always avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.

I always tell guys to get paid what you are worth and know what you are worth so that if you are worth it, you will get that number.

I don't want to do anything that capitalizes personally on the fact that I've been in public service.

I don't measure myself in my contract in terms of what I'm making.

Know the difference between principles based on right or wrong vs. principles based on personal gain, and consider the basis of your own principles.

Public office must not be a means to profit or become rich.

Never compromise yourself.

In Minnesota, we hold our leaders to a higher standard. We demand that the men and women we send to Washington stand above reproach and steer clear of the web of corruption, kickbacks and special favors.

I hope that anyone I worked with wouldn't exploit our relationship.

I didn’t want you to recommend anyone for the place who I cannot implicitly rely upon to refuse a $10 bill when an Italian offers it to him, as will happen almost every day.

Public business … must always be done by somebody…. If wise men decline it, others will not; if honest men refuse it, others will not.

There are times when you earn your rather inadequate salary by just doing the right thing.

People hold elected officials to a higher ethical standard than most others.

You don't want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the American people, and it's not for sale.

An honest man in politics shines more there than he would elsewhere.

It is impossible for me, with any agreement to my sense of propriety, to accept any sort of compensation for services which I may endeavor to do upon a public account.

Anti-corruption is a core constitutional value. It always has been.

I've been charging what I deserve. I believe I am worth every penny of it, and if filmmakers think so, too, they will pay me.

The thing about the max is, you're worth whatever somebody is willing to pay you, in my mind.