quotations about corruption
No nation will run away from corruption when the devil is the kingmaker.
CHUKWUEMEKA E. ONYEJINDUAKA
6,000 Proverbs and Quotes of Chukwuemeka E. O.
He that accuses all mankind of corruption ought to remember that he is sure to convict only one.
EDMUND BURKE
letter to the sheriffs of Bristol, 1777
All things can corrupt perverse minds.
OVID
attributed, Day's Collacon
The corrupt heart breaketh out by the lewd tongue.
XENOPHON
attributed, Day's Collacon
Do you know how a man makes his way here? By brilliant genius or by skilful corruption. You must either cut your way through these masses of men like a cannon ball, or steal among them like a plague.
HONORE DE BALZAC
Père Goriot
Corruption is no stranger to Washington; it is a famous resident.
WALTER GOODMAN
attributed, Politicians and Other Scoundrels
With all this corruption
It's pretty hard to win
ONE WAY SYSTEM
"Corrupted World"
I tend to hold the view that corruption is like indigestion. It is a symptom and not a disease.
M. KILONZO
Kenya National Assembly Parliamentary Debate, March 19, 2003
Accusing me of corruption is like arresting Mother Teresa because a little girl under her care stole an apple.
SILVIO BERLUSCONI
attributed, The Sack of Rome: Media + Money + Celebrity = Power = Silvio Berlusconi
At length corruption, like a general flood
(So long by watchful ministers withstood),
Shall deluge all; and avarice, creeping on,
Spread like a low-born mist, and blot the sun.
ALEXANDER POPE
Moral Essays
Corruption always hurts somebody.
GODFREY HARRIS
Corruption: How to Deal with Its Impact on Business and Society
I see corruption so largely rewarded that I doubt not that I should thrive in the world, could I get but a dispensation for my conscience for the liberty of trading.
ARTHUR WARWICK
Spare Minutes
'Tis the most certain sign, the world's accurst
That the best things corrupted, are the worst;
'Twas the corrupted Light of knowledge, hurl'd
Sin, Death, and Ignorance o'er all the world;
That Sun like this (from which our sight we have)
Gaz'd on too long, resumes the light he gave.
JOHN DENHAM
Progress of Learning
The men with the muck-rake are often indispensable to the well-being of society, but only if they know when to stop raking the muck.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
speech, Apr. 14, 1906
Wherever you see a man who gives someone else's corruption, someone else's prejudice as a reason for not taking action himself, you see a cog in The Machine that governs us.
JOHN JAY CHAPMAN
Practical Agitation
Without strong watchdog institutions, impunity becomes the very foundation upon which systems of corruption are built. And if impunity is not demolished, all efforts to bring an end to corruption are in vain.
RIGOBERTA MENCHU TUM
Global Corruption Report, 2001
Corruption is a cancer: a cancer that eats away at a citizen's faith in democracy, diminishes the instinct for innovation and creativity.
JOE BIDEN
Remarks by vice President Joe Biden to Romanian Civil Society Groups and Students, May 21, 2014
Corruption is man's inheritance.
ANACLETUS
attributed, Day's Collacon
Me come ina you country
That is said to be free (x2)
Me sight corruption
Me sight starvation
Walking like a millionaire 'cause you think you country is free
One thing you don't know is that your country is being remote controlled
LUCKY DUBE
"Mickey Mouse Freedom"
The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference.
BESS MYERSON
Redbook, April 1974