Being proactive is more than taking initiative. It is recognizing that we are responsible for our own choices and have the freedom to choose based on principles and values rather than on moods or condition. Proactive people are agents of change and choose not to be victims, to be reactive, or to blame others.
There can be no compromise on moral principles.
There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about it.
I'd rather vote for something I want and not get it than vote for something I don't want, and get it.
Even now, we make no apologies for the choice we made. The sacrifices we made were selfless. The options we offered were patriotic while the paths we chose were well thought out.
The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character.
I would rather miss the mark acting well than win the day acting basely.
A good man should and must Sit rather down with loss than rise unjust.
Honesty is the best policy, I will stick to that. The good shall have my hand and heart, but the bad neither foot nor fellowship. And in my mind, the main point of governing, is to make a good beginning.
A politician’s task was to bring reality and policy into the greatest possible accord with the ideal and the principled.
It is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right.
I don't believe you outsource your convictions and principles to people.
George W. Bush is not preoccupied with his legacy - nor with his popularity. He never has been. He has always led based on core conviction and strong principles and has believed that time and distance would allow for context.
I just want people to know that whatever decisions are made on any issue, I'll make them according to what I believe is in the public interest and my own conscience.
I will admit no bond that holds me to a party a day longer than I agree to its principles
Idealism without pragmatism is impotent. Pragmatism without idealism is meaningless. The key to effective leadership is pragmatic idealism.
Some campaigns are not worth waging if you can't win; others have to be fought on grounds of principle regardless of the chances for success.
If you look back at President Bush, nobody agreed with his policies, but you understood that he was doing things that he believed was right.
Having a Christian worldview shapes my decision-making with respect to all aspects of my life. I always respect people in public life who are principled, and those principles have to be connected to something. And my faith is what serves as the anchor and directs my actions.
You know flexibility is a good thing but it shouldn't - you shouldn't be flexible on core principles.
Cease being intimidated by the argument that a right action is impossible because it does not yield maximum profits, or that a wrong action is to be condoned because it pays.
The worst thing you want is a willy-nilly judge who is swayed by the political whims of the era or the time. What you want is a judge who is thinking about what he or she is doing and is thinking about it in a principled way.
If you've been around for thirty years posing moral judgments on politics and society, you've got to take a stand. You can't go waving your wooden sword forever.
It's essential that we do what's right - not necessarily what appears to be immediately popular.
An ethical man doesn't need a consensus of his allies in order to act against something he finds reprehensible.
