{ "type": "topic", "site": { "name": "Leafy Quotes", "language": "en", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com" }, "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.", "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption", "heading": "Quotes about corruption", "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption.json", "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption.md", "quotes_count": 44, "authors_count": 38, "parent": { "name": "politics", "slug": "politics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/politics", "heading": "Quotes about politics" }, "children": [], "quotes": [ { "id": "99b9d4f6-4266-4bcd-b954-c9f4a102e04a", "slug": "money-to-an-official", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/shi-naian/the-water-margin/money-to-an-official", "text": "Money to an official is like blood to a fly.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Shī Nàiān", "slug": "shi-naian", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/shi-naian" }, "book": { "title": "The Water Margin", "slug": "the-water-margin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/shi-naian/the-water-margin" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Water_Margin#Quotations", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:55" }, { "id": "b1405af5-272b-43b4-b44f-4ca712a5249c", "slug": "the-more-numerous", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tacitus/annals/the-more-numerous", "text": "The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the government.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Tacitus", "slug": "tacitus", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tacitus" }, "book": { "title": "Annals", "slug": "annals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tacitus/annals" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "law", "slug": "law", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/law" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tacitus#Annals_(117)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:49:13" }, { "id": "60963368-9057-4828-baa0-96c95cc2237a", "slug": "to-a-shower", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-carlyle/the-french-revolution/to-a-shower", "text": "To a shower of gold most things are penetrable.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thomas Carlyle", "slug": "thomas-carlyle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-carlyle" }, "book": { "title": "The French Revolution", "slug": "the-french-revolution", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-carlyle/the-french-revolution" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Carlyle#The_French_Revolution._A_History_(1837)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T07:01:53" }, { "id": "d282b813-ad5e-48a7-8fd7-805e16aefec3", "slug": "precisely-because-everyone", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/teju-cole/every-day-is-for-the-thief/precisely-because-everyone", "text": "Precisely because everyone takes a shortcut, nothing works and, for this reason, the only way to get anything done is to take another shortcut.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Teju Cole", "slug": "teju-cole", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/teju-cole" }, "book": { "title": "Every Day Is for the Thief", "slug": "every-day-is-for-the-thief", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/teju-cole/every-day-is-for-the-thief" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 19, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Teju_Cole#Every_Day_Is_for_the_Thief_(2007)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:24" }, { "id": "c179af2e-4984-40ef-8855-4f29ad2d50fd", "slug": "all-power-corrupts", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-le-carre/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy/all-power-corrupts", "text": "“All power corrupts but some must govern and in that case Brother Lacon will reluctantly scramble to the top of the heap.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John le Carré", "slug": "john-le-carre", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-le-carre" }, "book": { "title": "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", "slug": "tinker-tailor-soldier-spy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-le-carre/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tinker_Tailor_Soldier_Spy_(novel)#Part_Two", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:51" }, { "id": "b6b65a61-3386-4999-a72f-d81926e0ae20", "slug": "in-political-matters", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-trollope/phineas-redux/in-political-matters", "text": "In political matters it is very hard for a man in office to be purer than his neighbours, — and, when he is so, he becomes troublesome.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anthony Trollope", "slug": "anthony-trollope", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-trollope" }, "book": { "title": "Phineas Redux", "slug": "phineas-redux", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-trollope/phineas-redux" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "politics", "slug": "politics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/politics" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Phineas_Redux#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:49" }, { "id": "647f2b68-d8eb-4242-ab2b-ad377e4475ff", "slug": "senator-stanton-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/m-k-hobson/the-native-star/senator-stanton-the", "text": "Senator Stanton? The man who’s sold his own soul so many times that no one can figure out who actually owns it?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "M. K. Hobson", "slug": "m-k-hobson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/m-k-hobson" }, "book": { "title": "The Native Star", "slug": "the-native-star", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/m-k-hobson/the-native-star" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 285, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "politics", "slug": "politics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/politics" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/M._K._Hobson#The_Native_Star_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:20" }, { "id": "89d2761c-6596-482a-b45f-da9385277a09", "slug": "is-there-anyone-or", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/chasm-city/is-there-anyone-or", "text": "“Is there anyone or anything in this city which can’t be bought?” I said, slipping him a note. “Yeah,” the man said, laughing quietly. “But I’m not it.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alastair Reynolds", "slug": "alastair-reynolds", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds" }, "book": { "title": "Chasm City", "slug": "chasm-city", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/chasm-city" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 634, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alastair_Reynolds#Chasm_City_(2001)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:38" }, { "id": "153b7675-9170-4c91-850e-c1b5f33b4812", "slug": "it-is-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-social-contract/it-is-not", "text": "It is not good for him who makes the laws to execute them, or for the body of the people to turn its attention away from a general standpoint and devote it to particular objects. Nothing is more dangerous than the influence of private interests in public affairs, and the abuse of the laws by the government is a less evil than the corruption of the legislator.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "The Social Contract", "slug": "the-social-contract", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-social-contract" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "law", "slug": "law", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/law" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Social_Contract#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:45" }, { "id": "643dd245-cabc-48f4-b968-110bca2e6b68", "slug": "truth-is-cheap", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/pat-cadigan/synners/truth-is-cheap", "text": "“‘Truth is cheap, but information costs.’ I can’t remember who said that.” “Vince What’s-His-Name,” said Sam. “Died in a terrorist raid or something. I thought you said all information should be free.” “It should. It isn’t. Knowledge is power. But power corrupts. Which means the Age of Fast Information is an extremely corrupt age in which to live.” “Aren’t they all?” Sam asked him.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Pat Cadigan", "slug": "pat-cadigan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/pat-cadigan" }, "book": { "title": "Synners", "slug": "synners", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/pat-cadigan/synners" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 52, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "knowledge", "slug": "knowledge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/knowledge" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pat_Cadigan#Synners_(1991)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:08" }, { "id": "694cffc2-7168-4277-986b-7026844bf209", "slug": "history-shows-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang/bad-samaritans/history-shows-that", "text": "History shows that, at earlier stages of economic development, corruption is difficult to control. The fact that today no country that is very poor is very clean suggests that a country has to rise above absolute poverty before it can significantly reduce in the system. When people are poor, it is easy to buy their dignity—starving people find it difficult not to sell their votes for a bag of flour, while under-paid civil servants will often fail to resist the temptation to take a bribe. But it is not just a matter of personal dignity. There are also more structural causes.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ha-Joon Chang", "slug": "ha-joon-chang", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang" }, "book": { "title": "Bad Samaritans", "slug": "bad-samaritans", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang/bad-samaritans" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 166, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "dignity", "slug": "dignity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dignity" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ha-Joon_Chang#Bad_Samaritans:_The_Myth_of_Free_Trade_and_the_Secret_History_of_Capitalism_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:57" }, { "id": "3b4d6e1c-3eb3-48eb-99bc-e5ae9e4a204c", "slug": "corruption-exists-because", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang/bad-samaritans/corruption-exists-because", "text": "Corruption exists because there is too much, not too little, market.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ha-Joon Chang", "slug": "ha-joon-chang", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang" }, "book": { "title": "Bad Samaritans", "slug": "bad-samaritans", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang/bad-samaritans" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 18, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ha-Joon_Chang#Bad_Samaritans:_The_Myth_of_Free_Trade_and_the_Secret_History_of_Capitalism_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:57" }, { "id": "479c831e-da43-4a0a-a614-7872e1c0a615", "slug": "the-entire-history", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-lewis/flash-boys/the-entire-history", "text": "The entire history of Wall Street was the story of scandals, it now seemed to him, linked together tail to trunk like circus elephants. Every systemic market injustice arose from some loophole in a regulation created to correct some prior injustice.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Michael Lewis", "slug": "michael-lewis", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-lewis" }, "book": { "title": "Flash Boys", "slug": "flash-boys", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-lewis/flash-boys" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 101, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "law", "slug": "law", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/law" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Lewis_(author)#Flash_Boys_(2014)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:42" }, { "id": "451a4b29-0bfe-4955-9946-4858f2075b5b", "slug": "the-deep-problem", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-lewis/flash-boys/the-deep-problem", "text": "The deep problem with the system was a kind of moral inertia. So long as it served the narrow self-interests of everyone inside it, no one on the inside would ever seek to change it, no matter how corrupt or sinister it became", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Michael Lewis", "slug": "michael-lewis", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-lewis" }, "book": { "title": "Flash Boys", "slug": "flash-boys", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-lewis/flash-boys" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 88, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "selfishness", "slug": "selfishness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/selfishness" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Lewis_(author)#Flash_Boys_(2014)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:42" }, { "id": "9d16d54d-692a-45e6-a494-4c8bce1390ba", "slug": "the-system-by-which", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams/last-chance-to-see/the-system-by-which", "text": "The system by which Zaïre works, and which this card [a card urging Zaireans to be helpful to foreigners] was a wonderfully hopeless attempt to correct, is very simple. Every official you encounter will make life as unpleasant as he possibly can until you pay him to stop it. In U.S. dollars. He then passes you on to the next official, who will be unpleasant to you all over again.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Douglas Adams", "slug": "douglas-adams", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams" }, "book": { "title": "Last Chance to See", "slug": "last-chance-to-see", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams/last-chance-to-see" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 58, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Last_Chance_to_See#Chapter_3:_Leopardskin_Pillbox_Hat", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:30" }, { "id": "3fa4ce27-f9bb-4c3b-8cbb-96d8a56ed95b", "slug": "like-most-colonies", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams/last-chance-to-see/like-most-colonies", "text": "Like most colonies, Zaïre had impose on it a stifling bureaucracy, the sole function of which was to refer decisions upward to its colonial masters. Local officials rarely had the power to do things, only to prevent them from being done until bribed. So once the colonial masters are removed, the bureaucracy continues to thrash around like a headless chicken with nothing to do but trip itself up, bump into things, and, when it can get the firepower, shoot itself in the foot. You can always tell an ex-colony from the inordinate numbers of people who are able to find employment stopping anybody who has anything to do from doing it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Douglas Adams", "slug": "douglas-adams", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams" }, "book": { "title": "Last Chance to See", "slug": "last-chance-to-see", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams/last-chance-to-see" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 65, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "bureaucracy", "slug": "bureaucracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/bureaucracy" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Last_Chance_to_See#Chapter_3:_Leopardskin_Pillbox_Hat", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:30" }, { "id": "2c3dccf6-112d-4135-b713-f0c4e2d2958e", "slug": "laws-are-a-fine", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paolo-bacigalupi/the-windup-girl/laws-are-a-fine", "text": "Laws are a fine thing on paper, but painful when no bribery can ease their bind.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Paolo Bacigalupi", "slug": "paolo-bacigalupi", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paolo-bacigalupi" }, "book": { "title": "The Windup Girl", "slug": "the-windup-girl", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/paolo-bacigalupi/the-windup-girl" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 212, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "law", "slug": "law", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/law" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paolo_Bacigalupi#The_Windup_Girl_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:16" }, { "id": "06c4d74f-d96e-414e-9bff-e650c6dbbcb4", "slug": "corruption-rewards-its", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-boat-of-a-million-years/corruption-rewards-its", "text": "Corruption rewards its favorites with jobs.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Poul Anderson", "slug": "poul-anderson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson" }, "book": { "title": "The Boat of a Million Years", "slug": "the-boat-of-a-million-years", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/the-boat-of-a-million-years" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 297, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poul_Anderson#The_Boat_of_a_Million_Years_(1989)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:48" }, { "id": "e8fcfe3d-8b94-4198-b374-8b26479bf74b", "slug": "how-do-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner/stand-on-zanzibar/how-do-you", "text": "How do you whip up resentment against absentee landlords and pocketers of bribes when the highest ambition of the people is either to become the former or be in a position to receive the latter?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Brunner", "slug": "john-brunner", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner" }, "book": { "title": "Stand On Zanzibar", "slug": "stand-on-zanzibar", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner/stand-on-zanzibar" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Brunner#Stand_on_Zanzibar_(1968)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:09" }, { "id": "f7928f54-e36d-4e9d-bb7d-d579ef70dd71", "slug": "a-man-to-whom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/no-longer-at-ease/a-man-to-whom", "text": "A man to whom you do a favor will not understand if you say nothing, make no noise, just walk away. You may cause more trouble by refusing a bribe than by accepting it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Chinua Achebe", "slug": "chinua-achebe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe" }, "book": { "title": "No Longer at Ease", "slug": "no-longer-at-ease", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chinua-achebe/no-longer-at-ease" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 87, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chinua_Achebe#No_Longer_at_Ease_(1960)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:54" }, { "id": "5a26353a-dae5-42da-bdad-c612dc4ff768", "slug": "politics-is-shit", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-stross/saturns-children/politics-is-shit", "text": "Politics is shit; it corrupts everything it touches, and getting involved in it only leads to misery and dissatisfaction.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Stross", "slug": "charles-stross", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-stross" }, "book": { "title": "Saturn's Children", "slug": "saturns-children", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-stross/saturns-children" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 157, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "politics", "slug": "politics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/politics" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Stross#Saturn's_Children_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:07" }, { "id": "258470b4-3a53-4bf9-be3e-1aa70153d4d7", "slug": "anything-devised-by-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jasper-fforde/the-well-of-lost-plots/anything-devised-by-man", "text": "Anything devised by man has bureaucracy, corruption and error hardwired at inception.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jasper Fforde", "slug": "jasper-fforde", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jasper-fforde" }, "book": { "title": "The Well of Lost Plots", "slug": "the-well-of-lost-plots", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jasper-fforde/the-well-of-lost-plots" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 97, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "bureaucracy", "slug": "bureaucracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/bureaucracy" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jasper_Fforde#The_Well_of_Lost_Plots_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:59" }, { "id": "77cf882e-5a15-4795-8ffc-f024176ad2a7", "slug": "nahuseresh-if-there", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/megan-whalen-turner/the-queen-of-attolia/nahuseresh-if-there", "text": "\"Nahuseresh, if there is one thing a woman understands, it is the nature of gifts. They are bribes when threats do not avail.\" The queen shook her head. \"The problem with bribes, Nahuseresh, is that after your money is gone, threats still do not avail.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Megan Whalen Turner", "slug": "megan-whalen-turner", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/megan-whalen-turner" }, "book": { "title": "The Queen of Attolia", "slug": "the-queen-of-attolia", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/megan-whalen-turner/the-queen-of-attolia" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Megan_Whalen_Turner#The_Queen_of_Attolia_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:39" }, { "id": "3dd6dfbd-d142-4f30-9401-98e288c644f7", "slug": "the-religions-of-jesus", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-jose-farmer/the-dark-design/the-religions-of-jesus", "text": "The religions of Jesus, Paul, and Buddha had started to degenerate before their founders were cold in their graves. Just as St. Francis’ order had begun corrupting before its founder’s body was rotten.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Philip José Farmer", "slug": "philip-jose-farmer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-jose-farmer" }, "book": { "title": "The Dark Design", "slug": "the-dark-design", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-jose-farmer/the-dark-design" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 296, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "religion", "slug": "religion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/religion" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_Jos%C3%A9_Farmer#The_Dark_Design_(1977)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:31" }, { "id": "11abb400-28b5-4a84-8c1f-0cf5272e351e", "slug": "i-suppose-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/russell-brand/revolution/i-suppose-that", "text": "I suppose that corruption by definition is a deviation, a perversion from the intended path.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Russell Brand", "slug": "russell-brand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/russell-brand" }, "book": { "title": "Revolution", "slug": "revolution", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/russell-brand/revolution" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Russell_Brand#Revolution_(2014)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:27" }, { "id": "50c04dfd-dfbc-44e5-b3af-5b22e5bb72aa", "slug": "it-looks-perverted", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/the-player-of-games/it-looks-perverted", "text": "It looks perverted and wasteful to us, but then one thing that empires are not about is the efficient use of resources and the spread of happiness; both are typically accomplished despite the economic short-circuiting—corruption and favoritism, mostly—endemic to the system.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Iain M. Banks", "slug": "iain-m-banks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks" }, "book": { "title": "The Player Of Games", "slug": "the-player-of-games", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/the-player-of-games" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 91, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Iain_Banks#The_Player_of_Games_(1988)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:16" }, { "id": "cd338087-2517-44a3-bf45-35517c5d85f8", "slug": "a-lot-of-things", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/the-fresco/a-lot-of-things", "text": "“A lot of things they speak of doing are things many humans have wanted to do but have never been able to muster a mandate to get them done. Things like legalizing drugs to take out the profit motive. Or paying teachers the way we do athletes, depending on how effective they are. Or getting rid of weapons whose only purpose is to kill people.” “Is a mandate necessary?” “If you’re going to overcome an economic incentive, yes.” “Logic has no part?” “No part at all. People can see the problem, they’re not stupid, but they can’t influence the legislators the way money can. Even when bad situations go on and on until the people are desperate for a correction, even when they threaten legislators with voting them out, the money still prevails.” “It is hard for me to see how this could happen.” Chad said, “The legislators react to a problem by writing a law, let’s say to put repeat drunk drivers in jail. The liquor industry objects, because they don’t like a lot of discussion about drunkenness, it hurts their image. The legislators react by amending the law to create a commission to study how best to jail drunk drivers. Then, when the budget bills come along, they fund only the commission. The appointees to the commission include representatives of the liquor industry. “This allows the legislators to claim success, because the law got voted in. The liquor industry also claims success, because they made sure the law won’t work. “The next step is to hire a lot of people to work for the commission, many of whom are also liquor industry supporters, and the commission begins to issue long, complicated, vaguely pointless reports. Now, however, there are jobs involved, and legislators can’t get rid of jobs, even useless ones. “Then, repeatedly, the lawmakers amend the law further, tweaking this and changing that, but always adding more jobs—until we have a bureaucratic monstrosity that’s in the business of helping the liquor industry prevent legislation against drunk drivers. That’s the way our Forestry Service got to be owned by the lumbermen, and our DEA got to be owned by the drug cartels, welfare got to be owned by a social work hierarchy, and schools got to be owned by professional educationalists. None of them work, because that’s not what they’re designed to do.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sheri S. Tepper", "slug": "sheri-s-tepper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper" }, "book": { "title": "The Fresco", "slug": "the-fresco", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/the-fresco" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 438, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "politics", "slug": "politics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/politics" }, { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "bureaucracy", "slug": "bureaucracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/bureaucracy" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper#The_Fresco_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:27" }, { "id": "bab47b92-6c5e-4cc5-a8a5-a21d31588f0a", "slug": "ive-come-to-believe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/the-visitor/ive-come-to-believe", "text": "I’ve come to believe, from experience and reading and what I’ve learned on the outside, that the Regime—I suppose really, one might say any regime—is rather like a pot of porridge. If vigorously stirred every now and then, it can be a nourishing if not always tasty staple, but if left on the heat unstirred for some time it becomes increasing stodgy. If left untended, it can char into an immovable solid, like coal. Thereafter, it is incapable of being stirred, incapable of providing nourishment. When a regime is like that, citizens have to resort to bribery or lawbreaking to do quite necessary things like digging wells or fixing roads, thus joining corruption to congealment.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sheri S. Tepper", "slug": "sheri-s-tepper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper" }, "book": { "title": "The Visitor", "slug": "the-visitor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/the-visitor" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 293, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "the state", "slug": "the-state", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-state" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper#The_Visitor_(2002)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:27" }, { "id": "d11ca9d9-02c8-45e6-895d-f12c69d1863f", "slug": "i-wonder-what", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/octavia-e-butler/parable-of-the-sower/i-wonder-what", "text": "I wonder what a badge is, other than a license to steal.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Octavia E. Butler", "slug": "octavia-e-butler", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/octavia-e-butler" }, "book": { "title": "Parable of the Sower", "slug": "parable-of-the-sower", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/octavia-e-butler/parable-of-the-sower" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 316, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" }, { "name": "police", "slug": "police", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/police" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Octavia_Butler#Parable_of_the_Sower_(1993)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:10" }, { "id": "4bde43cc-5ac9-4e32-a999-518d53808e4b", "slug": "its-said-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-brin/the-postman/its-said-that", "text": "It’s said that “power corrupts,” but actually it’s more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. When they do act, they think of it as service, which has limits. The tyrant, though, seeks mastery, for which he is insatiable, implacable.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Brin", "slug": "david-brin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-brin" }, "book": { "title": "The Postman", "slug": "the-postman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-brin/the-postman" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 267, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Brin#Section_3,_%E2%80%9CCincinnatus%E2%80%9D", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:43" }, { "id": "eb70144e-d0c0-44a6-83bc-a417859c57a7", "slug": "to-say-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/saul-alinsky/rules-for-radicals/to-say-that", "text": "To say that corrupt means corrupt the ends is to believe in the immaculate conception of ends and principles. The real arena is corrupt and bloody. Life is a corrupting process from the time a child learns to play his mother off against his father in the politics of when to go to bed; he who fears corruption fears life.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Saul Alinsky", "slug": "saul-alinsky", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/saul-alinsky" }, "book": { "title": "Rules for Radicals", "slug": "rules-for-radicals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/saul-alinsky/rules-for-radicals" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 24, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "life", "slug": "life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Saul_Alinsky#Rules_for_Radicals:_A_Practical_Primer_for_Realistic_Radicals_(1971)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:42" }, { "id": "eb0ebf67-ea13-4469-8aba-e8bcdb947aa5", "slug": "these-werent-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/sourcery/these-werent-the", "text": "These weren't the normal city watch, cautious and genially corrupt. These were walking slabs of muscle and they were absolutely unbribable, if only because the Patrician could outbid anyone else.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Terry Pratchett", "slug": "terry-pratchett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett" }, "book": { "title": "Sourcery", "slug": "sourcery", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/sourcery" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sourcery#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:53" }, { "id": "15bbe44f-346c-4488-9fd8-e7c1904ac912", "slug": "in-general-corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alan-greenspan/the-age-of-turbulence/in-general-corruption", "text": "In general, corruption tends to exist whenever governments have favors to extend, or something to sell.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alan Greenspan", "slug": "alan-greenspan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alan-greenspan" }, "book": { "title": "The Age of Turbulence", "slug": "the-age-of-turbulence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alan-greenspan/the-age-of-turbulence" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 275, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the state", "slug": "the-state", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-state" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alan_Greenspan#The_Age_of_Turbulence_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:46" }, { "id": "aa3188c4-a5df-44ec-8051-3261e2b07bb2", "slug": "when-you-see", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/atlas-shrugged/when-you-see", "text": "\"When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion—when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing—when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors—when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you—when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice—you may know that your society is doomed.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "Atlas Shrugged", "slug": "atlas-shrugged", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/atlas-shrugged" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 413, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "society", "slug": "society", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/society" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged#Chapter_Two:_The_Aristocracy_of_Pull", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:51" }, { "id": "6bbcfcfa-6101-4608-a620-936252335bea", "slug": "power-does-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-short-reign-of-pippin-iv/power-does-not", "text": "Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts, perhaps fear of a loss of power.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Steinbeck", "slug": "john-steinbeck", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck" }, "book": { "title": "The Short Reign of Pippin IV", "slug": "the-short-reign-of-pippin-iv", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-short-reign-of-pippin-iv" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "fear", "slug": "fear", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fear" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck#The_Short_Reign_of_Pippin_IV_(1957)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:01" }, { "id": "552a26b4-3ce7-4e16-9146-c65f85c6c682", "slug": "you-must-be-very", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kim-stanley-robinson/blue-mars/you-must-be-very", "text": "You must be very scrupulous not to gather power in to the center just because you can do it. Power corrupts, that’s the basic law of politics. Maybe the only law.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kim Stanley Robinson", "slug": "kim-stanley-robinson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kim-stanley-robinson" }, "book": { "title": "Blue Mars", "slug": "blue-mars", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kim-stanley-robinson/blue-mars" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 156, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kim_Stanley_Robinson#Blue_Mars_(1996)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:45" }, { "id": "31cc4e89-6bab-4c58-b525-47f2d0aebf24", "slug": "it-was-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kim-stanley-robinson/green-mars/it-was-not", "text": "It was not power that corrupted people, but fools who corrupted power.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kim Stanley Robinson", "slug": "kim-stanley-robinson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kim-stanley-robinson" }, "book": { "title": "Green Mars", "slug": "green-mars", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kim-stanley-robinson/green-mars" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 582, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "stupidity", "slug": "stupidity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/stupidity" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kim_Stanley_Robinson#Green_Mars_(1993)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:45" }, { "id": "b6e1986c-b79a-44c1-b654-1e85c30f7dd7", "slug": "a-world-without", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robertson-davies/the-cornish-trilogy/a-world-without", "text": "A world without corruption would be a strange world indeed — and a damned bad world for lawyers, let me say.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robertson Davies", "slug": "robertson-davies", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robertson-davies" }, "book": { "title": "The Cornish Trilogy", "slug": "the-cornish-trilogy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robertson-davies/the-cornish-trilogy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" }, { "name": "lawyers", "slug": "lawyers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/lawyers" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cornish_Trilogy#The_Rebel_Angels", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:15" }, { "id": "779ff4a8-1bd5-4d4c-996f-997db1fa0b10", "slug": "jurgis-had-come", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/upton-sinclair/the-jungle/jurgis-had-come", "text": "Jurgis had come there, and thought he was going to make himself useful, and rise and become a skilled man; but he would soon find out his error—for nobody rose in Packingtown by doing good work. You could lay that down for a rule—if you met a man who was rising in Packingtown, you met a knave. That man who had been sent to Jurgis' father by the boss, he would rise; the man who told tales and spied upon his fellows would rise; but the man who minded his own business and did his work—why, they would \"speed him up\" till they had worn him out, and then they would throw him into the gutter.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Upton Sinclair", "slug": "upton-sinclair", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/upton-sinclair" }, "book": { "title": "The Jungle", "slug": "the-jungle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/upton-sinclair/the-jungle" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Jungle_(novel)#Chapter_5", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:44" }, { "id": "b2359df4-ea0c-47c9-9a99-fe67309481ff", "slug": "men-like-jackson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/red-prophet/men-like-jackson", "text": "Men like Jackson were so upright and honest-seeming, but Hooch knew that there wasn't no such thing as a good man, just a man who wasn't bought yet, or wasn't in deep enough trouble, or didn't have the guts to reach out and take what he wanted. That's all that virtue ever boiled down to, so far as Hooch ever saw in his life.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Orson Scott Card", "slug": "orson-scott-card", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card" }, "book": { "title": "Red Prophet", "slug": "red-prophet", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/orson-scott-card/red-prophet" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "morality", "slug": "morality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality" }, { "name": "cynicism", "slug": "cynicism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/cynicism" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card#Red_Prophet_(1988)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:12" }, { "id": "6fc0faba-f00a-4f2a-a348-629d2df31043", "slug": "power-corrupts-and", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/lullaby/power-corrupts-and", "text": "Power corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely. So just relax, Helen Boyle told me, and just enjoy the ride. She said, \"Even absolute corruption has its perks.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Chuck Palahniuk", "slug": "chuck-palahniuk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk" }, "book": { "title": "Lullaby", "slug": "lullaby", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/chuck-palahniuk/lullaby" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chuck_Palahniuk#Lullaby_(2002)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:58" }, { "id": "8b0cd7c5-7366-4fc2-9aef-9e190db7c16a", "slug": "but-what-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-k-dick/solar-lottery/but-what-are", "text": "“But what are you supposed to do in a society that’s corrupt? Are you supposed to obey corrupt laws? Is it a crime to break a law that’s a rotten law, or an oath that’s rotten? “It’s a crime,” Cartwright admitted slowly. “But it may be the right thing to do.” “In a society of criminals,” Shaeffer offered, “the innocent man goes to jail.” “Who decides when the society is made up of criminals? Benteley demanded. “How do you know when your society has gone wrong? How do you know when it’s right to stop obeying the laws?” “You just know,” Rita O'Neill said fiercely.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Philip K. Dick", "slug": "philip-k-dick", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-k-dick" }, "book": { "title": "Solar Lottery", "slug": "solar-lottery", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/philip-k-dick/solar-lottery" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 156, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "law", "slug": "law", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/law" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philip_K._Dick#Solar_Lottery_(1955)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:02" }, { "id": "8072cba5-8e05-4b6f-a226-165cfc4f9bcc", "slug": "all-governments-suffer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/chapterhouse-dune/all-governments-suffer", "text": "All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Frank Herbert", "slug": "frank-herbert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert" }, "book": { "title": "Chapterhouse: Dune", "slug": "chapterhouse-dune", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/chapterhouse-dune" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "violence", "slug": "violence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/violence" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dune#Chapterhouse:_Dune_(1985)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:55" }, { "id": "199e608a-00f0-4b6f-a29b-aa2dfe8ae071", "slug": "power-attracts-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/chapterhouse-dune/power-attracts-the", "text": "Power attracts the corruptible. Absolute power attracts the absolutely corruptible. This is the danger of an entrenched bureaucracy to it's subject population. Even \"spoils\" systems are preferable because levels of tolerance are lower and the corrupt can be thrown out periodically. Entrenched bureaucracy seldom can be touched short of violence. Beware when Civil service and military join hands!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Frank Herbert", "slug": "frank-herbert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert" }, "book": { "title": "Chapterhouse: Dune", "slug": "chapterhouse-dune", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/chapterhouse-dune" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "bureaucracy", "slug": "bureaucracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/bureaucracy" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dune#Chapterhouse:_Dune_(1985)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:55" } ] }