I have seen corruption boil and bubble
'Till it overrun the stew. [ William Shakespeare ]
Loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud. [ William Shakespeare ]
Corruption of the best becomes the worst. [ Proverb ]
War is the corruption and disgrace of man. [ Thomson ]
The more corrupt the state, the more laws. [ Tacitus ]
And conscience, truth and honesty are made
To rise and fall, like other wares of trade. [ Moore ]
Even grave divines submit to glittering gold,
The best of consciences are bought and sold. [ Dr. Wolcot ]
I hate ingratitude more in a man
Than lying, vainness, babbling, drunkenness,
Or any taint of vice, whose strong corruption
Inhabits our frail blood. [ William Shakespeare ]
Silver, though white.
Yet it draws black lines; it shall not rule my palm
There to mark forth its base corruption. [ Middleton and Rowley ]
A corrupt judge does not carefully search for the truth. [ Horace ]
Stagnation is something worse than death, it is corruption also. [ Simms ]
How many honest words have buffered corruption since Chaucer's days! [ Thomas Middleton ]
Be certain that he who has betrayed thee once will betray thee again. [ Lavater ]
Peace is the happy, natural state of man; war his corruption, his disgrace. [ Thomson ]
Buffoonery and scurrility are the corruption of wit, as knavery is of wisdom. [ Proverb ]
Nothing tends so much to the corruption of science' as to suffer it to stagnate. [ Burke ]
Women grown bad are worse than men, because the corruption of the best turns worst. [ Proverb ]
Our supple tribes repress their patriot throats. And ask no questions but the price of votes. [ Dr. Johnson ]
He that accuses all mankind of corruption ought to remember that he is sure to convict only one. [ Burke ]
I have been young and am now old, and have not yet known an untruthful man to come to a good end. [ Auerbach ]
Oh, that estates, degrees, and offices were not derived corruptly, and that clear honor were purchased by the merit of the wearer! [ William Shakespeare ]
The lust of gold succeeds the lust of conquest; The lust of gold, unfeeling and remorseless! The last corruption of degenerate man. [ Samuel Johnson ]
When a government is arrived to that degree of corruption as to be incapable of reforming itself, it would not lose much by being new moulded. [ Montesquieu ]
The word independence
is united to the accessory ideas of dignity and virtue. The word dependence
is united to the ideas of inferiority and corruption. [ Bentham ]
National character varies as it fades under invasion or corruption; but if ever it glows again into a new life, that life must be tempered by the earth and sky of the country itself. [ John Ruskin ]
How often in the halls of legislation does eloquence unmask corruption, expose intrigue, and overthrow tyranny! In the cause of mercy it is omnipotent. It is bold in the consciousness of its superiority, fearless and unyielding in the purity of its motives. All opposition it destroys; all power it defies. [ Henry Melville ]
It is a great mistake to suppose that bribery and corruption, although they may be very convenient for gratifying the ambition or the vanity of individuals, have any great effect upon the fortunes or the power of parties. And it is a great mistake to suppose that bribery and corruption are means by which power can either be obtained or retained. [ Beaconsfield ]