Ten Quotes on Corruption

It's been a week since my last set of quotes (on Truth) inspired by a new whistleblower on the aborted NBN/ZTE deal which has created a firestorm, which now threatens the Philippine president's continued hold on power. Over a period of just one week, I have had to adjust my own initial assessment of the likelihood of a new People Power movement materializing (being euphimistically labelled today as "communal action" by the Catholic Church heirarchy) from "zero" to "more than 50% probability".

In my view, unless President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) does something to turn the tide of history that is unfolding, she'll get knocked-over and swallowed-up by the developing political tsunami. At the very heart of the present maelstrom is the sickening culture of CORRUPTION that has been quietly tolerated for so long by Pinoys. Here are quotes that expound more on this evil spell that has turned Philippine governance hopelessly dysfunctional and badly in need of change:

The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently. -Friedrich Nietzsche

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The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference. -Bess Myerson

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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

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The more corrupt the state, the more laws. -Publius Cornelius Tacitus

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The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end justifies the means. -Georges Bernanos

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Only the old are innocent. That is what the Victorians understood, and the Christians. Original sin is a property of the young. The old grow beyond corruption very quickly. -Malcolm Bradbury

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Corruption never has been compulsory. -Anthony Eden

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Money and corruption are ruining the land, crooked politicians betray the working man, pocketing the profits and treating us like sheep, and we're tired of hearing promises that we know they'll never keep. -Ray Davies

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As a columnist, I realize that whatever amount of corruption I expose, half my readers will block it out, although they may get a frisson of joy in the process. -Margaret Carlson

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Every man has his price. -Proverb

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Ten Quotes on Truth

There's a national drama being acted out on the Philippine Senate that, in my view, could potentially destabilize the country. This is the latest in a series of politically-motivated exposes, which has hounded President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) for sometime now, clearly intended to humiliate, discredit and, if luck is on the side of the President's political opponents, unseat her ahead of the scheduled elections in 2010.

The bone of contention is the TRUTH behind allegations, made earlier by the businessman-son of the ex-Speaker of the House and now reinforced by a new whistleblower, of huge pay-offs whose money trail presumably leads to the seat of power in Malacanang Palace. Here's a collection of quotes that dwell on that elusive TRUTH which has sown so much discord in the Philippines:

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time. -Abraham Lincoln

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Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods. -Albert Einstein

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There are no whole truths: all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil. -Alfred North Whitehead

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Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it. -Andre Gide

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Whenever you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. -Arthur Conan Doyle

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We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart. -Blaise Pascal

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Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true. - Buddha

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Chase after the truth like all hell and you'll free yourself, even though you never touch its coattails. -Clarence Darrow

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Most truths are so naked that people feel sorry for them and cover them up, at least a little bit. -Edward Murrow

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Truth is such a rare thing, it is delighted to tell it. -Emily Dickenson

(Photo credit: www.sxc.hu)