It is precisely when we help one another that we gain our victories over corruption, but the victory is assured only when we help one another with all our strength.

At the heart of the mystery of corruption lies the desire of one man to impose his will on others to the largest possible extent.

For domination has nothing whatsoever to do with good government, and power as an end in itself destroys good government.

Naked power has its limitations, since power is a generator of corruption and corruption in its turn tends to dilute the effectiveness of power.

The corrupt man is nearly always rootless, deeply aware of his rootlessness.

The second corruption of the state is oligarchy (oligos = few), in which the military elite is narrowed down to a few ruling families of immense wealth and prestige, who now openly flaunt their wealth and possessions.

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