Corrupt Power Quotes

• Power-worship blurs political judgment because it leads, almost unavoidably, to the belief that present trends will continue. Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible.

  George Orwell

  War, Winning, Power

  George Orwell, Ian Angus, Sheila Davison (1998). “The Complete Works of George Orwell: Smothered under journalism, 1946”

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• I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country... corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Country, Money, Hands

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  Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Inspirational, Leadership, Wisdom

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• One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.

  Carl Sagan

  Taken, Science, Long

  Carl Sagan (2011). “Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”, p.314, Ballantine Books

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• Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.

  John Steinbeck

  Fear, Loss, Power

  "The Short Reign of Pippin IV". Book by John Steinbeck, p. 102, 1957.

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• Power doesn't corrupt people; people corrupt power.

  William Gaddis

  Power, People, Dictator

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• Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it.

  William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham

  Government, Political, Mind

  William Pitt (1st earl of Chatham.) (1839). “Correspondence, ed. by [W.S. Taylor and J.H. Pringle] the executors of his son John, earl of Chatham”, p.387

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• No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.

  Jacob Bronowski

  Power, Political, Politics

  1971 In The Listener.

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• Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.

  Lord Acton

  Exercise, Men, Influence And Power

  "Historical Essays and Studies". Book by John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, oll.libertyfund.org. 1907.

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• It is 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.

  David Brin

  Power, Corruption, Favourite

  David Brin (1997). “The Postman”, GuildAmerica Books

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• The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.

  Frederick Douglass

  Freedom, Democracies Have, Tyrants

  Frederick Douglass, Philip Sheldon Foner, Yuval Taylor (1999). “Frederick Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings”, p.367, Chicago Review Press

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• Power doesn't always corrupt. Power can cleanse. What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals.

  Robert Caro

  Believe, Power Corrupts, Absolute Power

  "Robert Caro: a life with LBJ and the pursuit of power" by Chris McGreal, www.theguardian.com. June 10, 2012.

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• It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.

  Aung San Suu Kyi

  Inspirational, Motivational, Fear

  Aung San Suu Kyi (1991). “Freedom from fear: and other writings”, Penguin (Non-Classics)

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• We're taught Lord Acton's axiom: all power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. I believed that when I started these books, but I don't believe it's always true any more. Power doesn't always corrupt. Power can cleanse. What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals.

  Robert Caro

  Believe, Book, Taught

  "Robert Caro: a life with LBJ and the pursuit of power". Interview with Chris McGreal, www.theguardian.com. June 9, 2012.

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• I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favorable presumption that they do no wrong. If there is any presumption, it is the other way against holders of power...power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

  Lord Acton

  Kings, Power, Men

  Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 3 April 1887, in Louise Creighton 'Life and Letters of Mandell Creighton' (1904) vol. 1, ch. 13.

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  Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

  Lord Acton

  Inspirational, Leadership, Work

  Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 3 April 1887, in Louise Creighton 'Life and Letters of Mandell Creighton' (1904) vol. 1, ch. 13.

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• Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

  Frederick Douglass

  Freedom, Power, Tyrants

  Speech, Canandaigua, N.Y., 4 Aug. 1857

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• Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power.

  George Bernard Shaw

  Power, Men, Intellectual

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• Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.

  P. J. O'Rourke

  Inspirational, Funny, Money

  P. J. O'Rourke (2007). “Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government”, p.24, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

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  Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you!

  Pericles

  Inspirational, Trust, Witty

  "American Voters Suffer Learned Helplessness" by Andrea Chalupa, bigthink.com. September 7, 2012.

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• Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible.

  George Orwell

  Winning, Achievement, Winner

  George Orwell, Ian Angus, Sheila Davison (1998). “The Complete Works of George Orwell: Smothered under journalism, 1946”

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• They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Inspirational, Happiness, Peace

  Benjamin Franklin, William-Temple Franklin (1818). “Memoirs of the Life and Writings of (the Same), Continued to the Time of His Death by William Temple Franklin. - London, H. Colburn 1818”, p.270

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  It is not power that corrupts but fear.

  Aung San Suu Kyi

  Wielding Power, Power Corrupts, Corruption

  Aung San Suu Kyi (1991). “Freedom from fear: and other writings”, Penguin (Non-Classics)

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• The truth was that all men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.

  James Madison

  Truth, Men, Presidential

  James Madison's notes on the debates in the Federal Convention, avalon.law.yale.edu. July 11, 1787.

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• Great men are almost always bad men.

  Lord Acton

  Men, Power Corrupts, Absolute Power

  1887 Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 3 Apr.

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