'Tis the most certain sign, the world's accurst
That the best things corrupted, are the worst;
'Twas read more

'Tis the most certain sign, the world's accurst
That the best things corrupted, are the worst;
'Twas the corrupted Light of knowledge, hurl'd
Sin, Death, and Ignorance o'er all the world;
That Sun like this (from which our sight we have)
Gaz'd on too long, resumes the light he gave.

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.

If something can corrupt you, you're corrupted already.

If something can corrupt you, you're corrupted already.

Power corrupts. Knowledge is power. Study hard. Be evil.

Power corrupts. Knowledge is power. Study hard. Be evil.

When rogues like these (a sparrow cries)
To honours and employments rise,
I court no favor, ask read more

When rogues like these (a sparrow cries)
To honours and employments rise,
I court no favor, ask no place,
For such preferment is disgrace.

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.

. . . thieves at home must hang; but he that puts
Into his overgorged and bloated purse
read more

. . . thieves at home must hang; but he that puts
Into his overgorged and bloated purse
The wealth of Indian provinces, escapes.

The spiritual virtue of a sacrament is like light; although it
passes among the impure, it is not polluted.
read more

The spiritual virtue of a sacrament is like light; although it
passes among the impure, it is not polluted.
[Lat., Spiritalis enim virtus sacramenti ita est ut lux: etsi
per immundos transeat, non inquinatur.]

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.