Affair Quote by Charles Krauthammer
“If we insist that public life be reserved for those whose personal history is pristine, we are not going to get paragons of virtue running our affairs. We will get the very rich, who contract out the messy things in life the very dull, who have nothing to hide and nothing to show and the very devious, expert at covering their tracks and ambitious enough to risk their discovery.”
About This Quote
Source Opinion column: The Wall Street Journal, 2005
Excluding imperfect people from public roles leads to elitist, potentially corrupt leadership.
In simple terms: Rejecting imperfect leaders creates flawed governance.
Key Takeaway
Value integrity over perfection.
Themes
politics
ethics
leadership
Mood
critical
thoughtful
Type
philosophical
political
When to use this quote
- elections
- policy making
- government appointments
Key Concepts
public service
moral standards
Questions to Reflect On
- Should personal history outweigh competence?
- How can we balance transparency and expertise?
A Different Perspective
Perfect people are unrealistic and may hide flaws.
![“The privacy and dignity of our citizens [are] being whittled away by sometimes imperceptible steps. Taken individually, each step may be of little consequence. But when viewed as a whole, there begins to emerge a society quite unlike any we have seen -- a society in which government may intrude…” quote by Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/239/anonymous-1_citizens_the-privacy-and-dignity-of-our-citizens_1429472.jpg)
