Quotes: Corruption
4 quotes on this theme, each with its source and insight
The quotes
“Democracy is when the people keep a government in check.”
Source: no specific work is documented · Check the source
Disputed attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- The sentence is widely attributed online to Aung San Suu Kyi; an early online citation points to a Daily Mirror item (28 Sept 2012), but no primary source has been located.
- What remains uncertain
- Attribution is disputed: the wording appears mainly on quotation sites and secondary pages, with no confirmed speech, interview, or written source.
The line captures a key democratic idea: citizens must do more than elect leaders — they must check and constrain government. That principle echoes Aung San Suu Kyi’s public advocacy for accountable institutions, even though this exact wording lacks a confirmed primary source.
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Source: Acton–Creighton correspondence, letter to Mandell Creighton, 1887 · Check the source
Verified attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- The maxim appears in Acton's 1887 letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton; scholars and archives identify that correspondence as the origin.
Acton warns that unchecked authority erodes moral judgment: as power grows absolute, it breeds impunity and weakens conscience. He penned this line in an 1887 letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton while arguing that historians must judge leaders by the same moral standards as anyone else.
“Cowardice is the most terrible of vices.”
Source: The Master and Margarita, Yershalaim narrative (1928–1940) · Check the source
Verified attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- The line is from Bulgakov’s novel and occurs in dialogue between Yeshua and Pontius Pilate in the Yershalaim episode.
- What remains uncertain
- While verified as Bulgakov’s, the sentence is fictional dialogue; translations vary and a longer exchange in the text modifies the short aphorism.
Bulgakov frames cowardice as the root that enables lies, betrayal, and political complicity. In the Yershalaim episode of The Master and Margarita the line exposes how fear corrodes conscience and lets injustice persist. The sentence appears in the novel’s dialogue, not as a historical saying.
“The end justifies the means.”
Source: The Prince, 1513 · Check the source
Disputed attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- Scholarly evidence shows the exact English/French formula is not found verbatim in Machiavelli’s texts; it functions as a later summary of themes from his works.
- What remains uncertain
- Attribution remains disputed: the phrase is a popular paraphrase and some sources suggest other early authors, so the precise origin is uncertain.
This line condenses a hard political question: can a worthy goal excuse dubious actions? The idea is linked to Niccolò Machiavelli’s political realism—he examined power and survival without grounding policy in moral ideals—but the exact wording is a later shorthand, not a verified line from his works.