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

(Photo credit: www.sxc.hu)

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)

Ten Quotes on the Presidency

I've been intently monitoring the developments in the on-going primaries in the U.S., as well as the early start of party maneuverings in the Philippines that will build up to the presidential elections in mid-2010. Getting elected to the presidency is no joke, as we can glean from these quotes:

Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. There's nothing to do but stand there and take it. -Lyndon B. Johnson

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[Running for President is] physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually the most demanding single undertaking I can envisage unless it's World War III. -Walter F. Mondale

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Any man who wants to be president is either an egomaniac or crazy. -Dwight D. Eisenhower

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To be a great president, you have to have a war. All the great presidents have had their wars.

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Anyone that wants the presidency so much that he'll spend two years organizing and campaigning for it is not to be trusted with the office. -David Broder

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It is dangerous for a national candidate to say things that people might remember. -Eugene McCarthy

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

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Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, never can willingly abandon it. They may be distressed in the midst of all their power, but they will never look to anything but power for their relief. -Edmund Burke

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Whenever there is authority, there is a natural inclination to disobedience. -Thomas C. Haliburton

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All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing, and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway. -Harry S. Truman

(Thanks to www.stockxpert.com for the use of the royalty-free photo shown above).

Ten Quotes from John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy became the U.S. president when I was graduating from Grade-VI in a public school in my hometown. It was my father who planted him in my consciousness after he came back the following year from a government scholarship in the States. He regaled us with his first-hand account of the palpable tension in America during the Cuban Missile Crisis that tested Kennedy's mettle as a young president of a world superpower. That made a lasting imprint on my impressionable mind, hence my choice for these quotes:

"A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."

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As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

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"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."

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"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men."

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"Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction."

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"Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names."

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"Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies. Those whom God has so joined together, let no man put asunder."

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"History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside."

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"I look forward to a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose."

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"I just received the following wire from my generous Daddy; Dear Jack, Don't buy a single vote more than is necessary. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for a landslide."

(Many thanks to obits.eons.com for the use of the photo shown above)