Corrupt men are always liars. Lies are their instruments, their pleasure, their solace. In time they come to believe their lies, or rather to half-believe them.

Long before the empire had reached its greatest extent, the Romans were bored by it.

Throughout the history of Christianity, there had been a core of belief that man was not doomed to be everlastingly corrupt.

The United States is dangerously close to being a plutocracy. A third of the private wealth is owned by less than 5 percent of the population.

The small Hitlers are around us every day.

Nietzsche's accomplishment is that he permits us to see corruption from the inside.

Conquest, tyranny, treachery, and the clash of cultures bring about corrupt societies, and so does old age. Sometimes the five faces of corruption are visible at the same time.