--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It would be a foolish high representative…" description: "\"It would be a foolish high representative who worked that way.\" — Paddy Ashdown" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/paddy-ashdown-17120_foolish_it-would-be-a-foolish-high-representativ_2705062.png" --- # It would be a foolish high representative who worked that… ![“It would be a foolish high representative who worked that way.” quote by Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/paddy-ashdown-17120_foolish_it-would-be-a-foolish-high-representativ_2705062.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/paddy-ashdown-17120_foolish_it-would-be-a-foolish-high-representativ_2705062.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/paddy-ashdown-17120_foolish_it-would-be-a-foolish-high-representativ_2705062.png) > “It would be a foolish high representative who worked that way.” [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A foolish high representative would act in a misguided manner. **In simple terms:** Bad leaders make poor decisions. Key Takeaway Critically evaluate leadership actions. Themes leadership foolishness responsibility governance ethics Mood critical serious Type analysis advice When to use this quote - government policy - organizational leadership - public statements - media analysis Key Concepts political accountability decision making Questions to Reflect On - What criteria define good representation? - How can accountability be enforced? A Different Perspective Not all leaders are foolish. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Foolish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foolish/) [Foolish High](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foolish-high-2763574/) [High Representative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-representative-2437111/) [Representative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/representative/) [Representative Worked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/representative-worked-2763573/) [Stupid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupid/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [I was the first woman British commissioner, the first woman trade commissioner, so I am also proud to be the first woman High Representative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-ashton/i-was-the-first-woman-british-commissioner-the-first-woman-trade/) [Catherine Ashton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-ashton/) > [“If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/if-fifty-million-people-say-a-foolish-thing-it-is-still-a-foolish/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [I am a firm believer in democratic representative government as the best form for those who have the tolerance and self-restraint that is required…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/i-am-a-firm-believer-in-democratic-representative-government-as-the/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [The only result of our present system - unless we reverse the drift - must be the gradual extension of the fascist sector and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-t-flynn/the-only-result-of-our-present-system-unless-we-reverse-the-drift/) [John T. Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-t-flynn/) > [I have voted against only one of President Obama's nominees: Michael Froman, a Citigroup alumnus who is currently storming the halls of Congress as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/i-have-voted-against-only-one-of-president-obama-s-nominees-michael/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [I know that Lorenzo Snow was God's mouthpiece upon the earth, that he was the representative of the Lord, and that he was, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heber-j-grant/i-know-that-lorenzo-snow-was-god-s-mouthpiece-upon-the-earth-that-he/) [Heber J. Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heber-j-grant/) > [“As long as you have broad representation from many parts of society, representative government works extremely well. And it works even better when the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-carson/as-long-as-you-have-broad-representation-from-many-parts-of-society/) [Ben Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-carson/) > [First and foremost, the duty of a representative is to represent the interests of his constituents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-fleischmann/first-and-foremost-the-duty-of-a-representative-is-to-represent-the/) [Chuck Fleischmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-fleischmann/) > [My background in financial services and my experience as a state representative have given me the ability to identify our country's fiscal problems and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darlene-senger/my-background-in-financial-services-and-my-experience-as-a-state/) [Darlene Senger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darlene-senger/) > [Our need to identify with representative figures is something that never goes away. We still find those in novels. We find those in television.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-specktor/our-need-to-identify-with-representative-figures-is-something-that/) [Matthew Specktor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-specktor/) > [It ought to be the happiness and glory of a representative to live in the strictest union, the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/it-ought-to-be-the-happiness-and-glory-of-a-representative-to-live-in/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I should be a representative for AARP!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-moreno/i-should-be-a-representative-for-aarp/) [Rita Moreno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-moreno/) > [I take the definition and title of my job - Representative - seriously. That's what I will be above and beyond everything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-meng/i-take-the-definition-and-title-of-my-job-representative-seriously/) [Grace Meng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-meng/) > [I'm not a representative of Pakistan; I'm just an example that Pakistanis are different from each other. I believe it in my fiction and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/i-m-not-a-representative-of-pakistan-i-m-just-an-example-that/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [When it really comes down to it, the job you do is more important and is more representative of who you are than your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cudlitz/when-it-really-comes-down-to-it-the-job-you-do-is-more-important-and/) [Michael Cudlitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cudlitz/) ## More by Paddy Ashdown > [I am formally accountable to the steering board of the PIC, and I meet with nine ambassadors from the PIC every week. I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/i-am-formally-accountable-to-the-steering-board-of-the-pic-and-i-meet/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [We have invented a new human right here - the right to return home after a war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/we-have-invented-a-new-human-right-here-the-right-to-return-home/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [It works both ways: there are victims of tragedy who come to me who have experienced grief of such magnitude that they cannot reconcile.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/it-works-both-ways-there-are-victims-of-tragedy-who-come-to-me-who/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [I am here because I think it was a terrible sin of the west to allow those years of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/i-am-here-because-i-think-it-was-a-terrible-sin-of-the-west-to-allow/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [I don't think Bosnia is ready for reconciliation, but I do think it is ready for truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/i-don-t-think-bosnia-is-ready-for-reconciliation-but-i-do-think-it-is/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [The multinational corporations now developing budgets often bigger than medium-sized countries — these live in a global space which is largely unregulated, not subject…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/the-multinational-corporations-now-developing-budgets-often-bigger/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [Now we are intimately locked together. You get swine flu in Mexico; it’s a problem for Charles de Gaulle Airport 24 hours later. Lehman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/now-we-are-intimately-locked-together-you-get-swine-flu-in-mexico-it/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [Politics is about putting yourself in a state of grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/politics-is-about-putting-yourself-in-a-state-of-grace/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [I can create institutions, but I can't rewrite the chips in people's heads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/i-can-create-institutions-but-i-can-t-rewrite-the-chips-in-people-s/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [One of the great barriers to peace in the Middle East is that both sides, both Israel and the Palestinians, do not understand that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/one-of-the-great-barriers-to-peace-in-the-middle-east-is-that-both/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [It's not my job to be popular. I'm goal-driven; my job is to get results.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/it-s-not-my-job-to-be-popular-i-m-goal-driven-my-job-is-to-get-results/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [I was told there would be riots in the streets, but there were no riots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/i-was-told-there-would-be-riots-in-the-streets-but-there-were-no-riots/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [We who came here saw what was happening. This was far more than a war in a faraway place. This was a moral imperative,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/we-who-came-here-saw-what-was-happening-this-was-far-more-than-a-war/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [We have to make their livelihoods viable, get them the proper prices for their produce, try and make them stay rather than sell their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/we-have-to-make-their-livelihoods-viable-get-them-the-proper-prices/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [My second job has been to try to use my power to create institutions of a modern state that could enter the European Union,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/my-second-job-has-been-to-try-to-use-my-power-to-create-institutions/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) [Explore all 38 Paddy Ashdown quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) ## More Foolish quotes > [...it isn't foolish or wicked to enjoy. 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I gave all the individuals in the world cause to kneel down in front of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-myung-moon/am-i-foolish-and-insignificant-or-am-i-great-i-gave-all-the/) [Sun Myung Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-myung-moon/) [Browse all 1,867 Foolish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foolish/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It would be a foolish high representative who worked that way.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paddy Ashdown" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/it-would-be-a-foolish-high-representative-who-worked-that-way/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Foolish" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/it-would-be-a-foolish-high-representative-who-worked-that-way/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/paddy-ashdown-17120_foolish_it-would-be-a-foolish-high-representativ_2705062.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/paddy-ashdown-17120_foolish_it-would-be-a-foolish-high-representativ_2705062.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ff/paddy-ashdown-17120_foolish_it-would-be-a-foolish-high-representativ_2705062.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It would be a foolish high representative who worked that way.” — Paddy Ashdown", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Paddy Ashdown", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It would be a foolish high...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/it-would-be-a-foolish-high-representative-who-worked-that-way/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/it-would-be-a-foolish-high-representative-who-worked-that-way/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```