Proactive Governance Quotes

No government prospers by saying, 'I don't need to do anything. Just by being there, we have made the country thrive.'

To listen to the interests of all marks an ordinary government; to foresee them marks a great government.

The art of government is to deal with threats before they become overwhelming.

Any fool can tell a crisis when it arrives. The real service to the state is to detect it in embryo.

I'm one who demands a lot from people. I'm not afraid to look at alternative ways in city government. That's what I've done in my two years and will continue to do in the next four.

E-governance is the only way to move from good governance to proactive pro-people good governance (P2G2).

If I've learned one thing as a state leader, it's that California will never fulfill its truest potential if we wait for Washington to change on its own.

Thus it happens in matters of state; for knowing afar off (which it is only given a prudent man to do) the evils that are brewing, they are easily cured. But when, for want of such knowledge, they are allowed to grow so that everyone can recognize them, there is no longer any remedy to be found.

We are a forward-looking people, and we must have a forward-looking government.

There are two rules for mayors: Be there and do something.

Good governance is not fire-fighting or crisis-management. Instead of opting for ad-hoc solutions the need of the hour is to tackle the root cause of the problems.

True counselors of despair are those who hope against hope—and historical experience—that the government can and will act constructively.

A government must always be prepared for the unexpected.

I don't think it is ever enough for a governing majority to simply be opposed to things. We have to be for things.

Congress should be forward thinking in the policies we set, instead of waiting until catastrophe looms.

The most daunting challenges of our times, from climate change to the ageing population, demand an entrepreneurial state unafraid to take a gamble.

Happy are those few nations that have not waited till the slow succession of human vicissitudes should, from the extremity of evil, produce a transition to good; but by prudent laws have facilitated the progress from one to the other!

Public policy must lead and not merely react.

A President either is constantly on top of events or, if he hesitates, events will soon be on top of him. I never felt that I could let up for a moment.

In my roles as Deputy State Treasurer and Special Assistant Attorney General, I strove to make government more responsive, transparent, efficient, and proactive.