Public confidence

“ It must rely," he added, "upon the confidence and respect of the public for its just weight and influence, and it may be confidently asserted that neither with the people, nor with the country at large, nor with the other branches of the government, has there ever been found wanting that respect and confidence." ”

“ Indeed, it is by giving due heed to the criticism of the opposition and by denying unrighteous demands coming from his friends that the character of the man in power has to prove itself worthy of public confidence. ”

“ But,' I added, 'what confidence, what profound conviction must we have of the nobleness of our cause, to encounter not merely the dangers which we are about to meet, but that public opinion which will load us with reproaches and overwhelm us if we do not succeed! ”

“ Government, which derives its power from the people, must keep vigilant watch in the maintenance of public confidence, and inasmuch as the need most pressing now is to provide the means of giving every man a chance to perform the function God intended, we, as the representatives of States and municipalities, enter most happily into the suggestion that we coöperate our energies with those of the National Government. ”

“ However the public confidence may change, and the public affections fluctuate with respect to others, with respect to him, they have, in war and in peace, in public and in private life, been as steady as his own firm mind, and as constant as his own exalted virtues. ”

“ But though many do feel this and brood much over it, there appears to be a fatal security amongst the majority, whose sluggish minds cannot be awakened to the possibility of a great convulsion here, notwithstanding the continental conflagration that stares them in the face. What we principally want is a strong Government which shall obtain public confidence and respect, and which may have a chance of conciliating, satisfying, and keeping in check public opinion. ”

“ Truth and the keeping of one's word and promise are the basis of credit and esteem on which are founded and built up friendly intercourse and confidence. This is required, and is the more necessary for great ones, and those who have important public duties, because on their truth and integrity depend faith and public safety. Be sure that in this you take great care and pains, that it should be known and understood everywhere that trust may be placed in what you say, as besides its affecting public matters and your appointment, it matters much to your own honour and esteem. ”

“ For public men act and concert measures in matters of the greatest importance upon the 105 belief which they thus entertain of the general views of others, and unless they can act in security on this belief, there is an end of all public confidence. ”

“ If there are politicians who, under the pretense of seeking the public good, work themselves into the confidence of others with the intention of abusing that confidence for partisan purposes, I have, I trust, by my public life of thirty years fairly earned the right of not being classed with tricksters of that kind. ”

“ I will own that I am not indifferent to public opinion, and that I seek the confidence and esteem of my fellow-citizens by the even tenor of a well-spent life, and a regular discharge of all the social duties—not by lessening the esteem and confidence to which others are entitled. ”

“ Methods of organization like these, imperceptible to the public eye but absolutely sure, are the best calculated to succeed in bringing the attention and the confidence of the public to the side of our government. Thanks to such methods we shall be in a position as from time to time may be required, to excite or to tranquillise the public mind on political questions, to persuade or to confuse, printing now truth, now lies, facts or their contradictions, according as they may be well or ill received, always very cautiously feeling our ground before stepping upon it. ”

“ Public service, in order to be deserving of popular faith and confidence, must be infused with a new meaning and based on the highest considerations of morality. Government employment is neither a sinecure nor an instrument for self-enrichment, but a noble calling of service to the people. ”

“ On the other hand, so clear and strong a proclamation of your purposes as will convince everybody of your inflexible determination to remain true to them will at once secure you the confidence of the best part of the people and evoke so strong a support of public opinion as to render the displeasure of politicians comparatively harmless. Moreover, you will in any event have to choose between controlling the politicians and being controlled by them. ”

“ It is by this and other wise and practicable arrangements, that a confidence is to be established, "that the resources of the State will not only last our time," but extend to many generations; while the improvement of Public morals will contribute, in an eminent degree, to the happiness and prosperity of the country. ”

“ I had endeavoured to compose an administration whose talents, integrity, names, and dispositions should at once inspire unbounded confidence in the public mind, and ensure a perfect harmony in the conduct of the public business. I lose you from the list, and am not sure of all the others. Should the gentlemen who possess the public confidence decline taking a part in their affairs, and force us to take persons unknown to the people, the evil genius of this country may realize his avowal that 'he will beat down the administration.' The return of Mr. ”

“ I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our Government but civilization itself. That bond, though strained, is unbroken at home and abroad.
In all my public and private acts as your President, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end. ”

“ The benefits which flow from the restoration of public and private confidence are conspicuous and important, and the pleasure with which we contemplate them is heightened by your assurance of those further communications which shall confirm their existence and indicate their source. ”

“ Our government, in the furtherance of its religious duties, has for centuries made a special recognition of the [Pg 123] virtues, and particularly those which bestow good upon others, and it is only by the practice of such that public honors are achieved. One of the happiest consequences of this has been, to elevate only the most exemplary of our people to the head of public affairs, and from this comes a confidence and regard between our representatives and people, which you can scarcely appreciate after your experience. ”

“ It is gratifying to notice the favorable change which is taking place throughout the country in bringing to punishment those who have proven recreant to the trusts confided to them and in elevating to public office none but those who possess the confidence of the honest and the virtuous, who, it will always be found, comprise the majority of the community in which they live. ”

“ The criticisms of which the above are fair samples must be refuted because they find constant repetition and have the authority of distinguished leaders of public opinion, who at the present time seem to have the confidence of the people. ”

“ In order to fix the confidence of the public upon the most firm and immoveable basis, and to engage their good will and cheerful assistance in support of the measures adopted, the citizens were invited to take an active and honourable part in the execution of the plan, and in the direction of its most interesting details. ”

“ Gratification and amazement struggle for supremacy as we contemplate the population, wealth, and moral strength of our country. A trust, momentous in its influence upon our people and upon the world, is for a brief time committed to us, and we must not be faithless to its first condition—the defence of the free and equal influence of the people in the choice of public officers and in the control of public affairs. ”

“ I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity and interest. ”

“ And those of us who manage the public's knowledge will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government. ”

“ Many a time you have given the people to understand that you regarded public office as a public trust. When you oppose what is generally looked upon as demanded by the public voice as well as the public interest, it must be expected that you have weighty reasons for it — reasons corresponding with your character and station. ”

“ But it seems to me that the character of the men who rule [240] this country—whether they be at the moment in office or in opposition—is a matter of the utmost interest to the people of this country, and that it is of paramount importance that full confidence should be reposed in their character. ”

“ In the safe of prudence money lies idle, locked by the key of fear. Confidence is what we need—confidence in each other; confidence in our institutions; confidence in our form of government; in the great future; confidence in law, confidence in liberty, confidence in progress, and in the grand destiny of the Great Republic. Now, do not imagine that I think this policy will please every body. Of course there are men South and North who can never be conciliated. ”

“ Governed, as we are, entirely by public opinion, the utmost care should be taken to preserve the purity of the public mind. Knowledge is power, and truth is knowledge; whoever, therefore, knowingly propagates a prejudice, wilfully saps the foundation of his country’s strength. ”

“ Any step calculated to shake their confidence would be destructive of its real strength and of its chances. For it the most honest and most courageous policy will, therefore, also be the safest — in fact, the only safe one. ”

“ The kind of confidence we most need is confidence in the integrity, the soundness, the liberalism, the vision and the old-fashioned horse-sense of our national leadership. Without that kind of leadership we are for ever insecure. ”

“ I have the firmest convictions that that confidence cannot be secured by any other course than that of a frank and explicit declaration of principle; that vague and unmeaning professions of popular opinion may quiet distrust for a time, may influence this or that election but that such professions must ultimately and signally fail, if, being made, they are not adhered to, or if they are inconsistent with the honour and character of those who made them. ”

“ Can there then be a more stringent public duty for every man—and the greater the intelligence the greater the duty—than to take care, by all the influence he can command, that the country, the majority, public opinion, shall have a mind to do only what is just and pure and humane? ”

“ Speaker, that because I protest against converting this Republic into a democracy therefore I lack confidence in the people. No man has greater faith, sir, than I have in the intelligence, the integrity, the patriotism, and the fundamental common sense of the average American citizen. But I am for representative rather than for direct government, because I have greater confidence in the second thought of the people than I have in their first thought. ”

“ He thought a trust so great, so good a cause, Was only to be kept by guarding laws; For, public blessings firmly to secure, We must a lessening of the good endure. The public waters are to none denied ”

“ If, in the quiet walks of life, in the family, the workshop, and the school, we can but secure the true sentiments of honesty, sobriety, self-control, and manly dignity, conjoined with legal obedience, then we are safe; for the influence thereof will ascend to the higher spheres of life with a controlling power, and we shall have a government here, the reflex of a pure, honest, healthful public sentiment, manifesting, in the arena of political life, the rigid honesty and the simple purity which characterize the dealings of plain, honest men. ”

“ Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. ”

“ What are the right methods of politics? Why, the right methods are those of public discussion: the methods of leadership open and above board, not closeted with "boards of guardians" or anybody else, but brought out under the sky, where honest eyes can look upon them and honest eyes can judge of them. ”

“ Men have begun to respect and to love it for the enemies it has made. We have not far to seek for the reason. What is civil service reform? It is the application of common-sense and common honesty to the public service. And the American people are in the main a sensible and an honest people. ”

“ Honest affections, and common qualifications, are sufficient; and the administration has been always best executed, and the publick liberty best preserved, near the origin and rise of states, when plain honesty and common sense alone governed the publick affairs, and the morals of men were not corrupted with riches and luxury, nor their understandings perverted by subtleties and distinctions. Great abilities have, for the most part, if not always, been employed to mislead the honest, but unwary, multitude, and to draw them out of the open and plain paths of publick virtue and public good. ”

“ In the mean time, as you wish to know my thoughts on the present state of political affairs, I can only say that they continue to be the same that you have long known them. I think that public measures must be the great object of every honest man’s attention, and that from them we must derive our security, or shortly meet with our destruction. ”