In ancient Israel and Rome the judge had appeared as a stand-in for the divine, and corruption was a blinding of the representative of the divine.

It's better for the country when each party looks like it stands for something serious, for some big things, but they're not narrow and they're not bought.

The core of the concept of a bribe is an inducement improperly influencing the performance of a public function meant to be gratuitously exercised.

Some of the stupidest brilliant people who ever lived.

By trying to do too much, you risk not doing enough.

one way to keep people close to you is by not giving them enough. ... with people who give a lot of themselves, you sometimes lean back - but with people who give little you often lean forward, as if they're a spigot in the desert and you're the empty cup. It is the tropism of deprivation: We lean toward those who do not give.

The Democratic Party's complete obeisance to [the abortion] lobby makes Democrats look bought, frightened and craven.