So true is that old saying, Corruptio optimi pessima.

So true is that old saying, Corruptio optimi pessima.

Corruption is a tree, whose branches are
Of an immeasurable length: they spread
Ev'rywhere; and the dew read more

Corruption is a tree, whose branches are
Of an immeasurable length: they spread
Ev'rywhere; and the dew that drops from thence
Hath infected some chairs and stools of authority.

I know, when they prove bad, they are a sort of the vilest
creatures: yet still the same reason read more

I know, when they prove bad, they are a sort of the vilest
creatures: yet still the same reason gives it: for Optima
corrupta pessima: the best things corrupted become the worst.

I may not here omit those two main plagues, and common dotages of
human kind, wine and women, which read more

I may not here omit those two main plagues, and common dotages of
human kind, wine and women, which have infatuated and besotted
myriads of people: they go commonly together.

I never resist temptation, because I have found that things that
are bad for me do not tempt me.

I never resist temptation, because I have found that things that
are bad for me do not tempt me.

Don't buy a single vote more than necessary. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for a landslide.

Don't buy a single vote more than necessary. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for a landslide.

Thou shalt abstain,
Renounce, refrain.
[Ger., Entbehren sollst du! sollst entbehren.]

Thou shalt abstain,
Renounce, refrain.
[Ger., Entbehren sollst du! sollst entbehren.]

Temptation is an irresistible force at work on a moveable body.

Temptation is an irresistible force at work on a moveable body.

It is a creature
That dotes on Cassio, as 'tis the strumpet's plague
To beguile many and read more

It is a creature
That dotes on Cassio, as 'tis the strumpet's plague
To beguile many and be beguiled by one.