"Shame is officially dead in public life."
- Mark Shields, PBS News Hour, 6/10/11, in reference to the Weiner scandal
"I feel entitled to classify myself with the martyrs; for I
confess to a grateful sense of satisfaction as I contemplate my approach-
ing political demise."
- Albert B. Fall, reflecting on Teapot Dome in 1923
“The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government of the U.S. since the days of Andrew Jackson.”
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
"You have to walk out on a limb to the far end - for that's where the fruit is. If it breaks you learn how far to go next time."
- Billie Sol Estes, mid-1950's
"But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought."
–George Orwell
"I pledge to you tonight, from this office, that I will do everything in my power to ensure that the guilty are brought to justice and that such abuses are purged from our political processes in the years to come, long after I have left this office."
- Richard M. Nixon, 4/30/1973
"I apologize for lying to you. I promise I won't deceive you except in matters of this sort."
- Spiro T. Agnew, 1973
"Corrupt politicians make the other ten percent look bad."
–Henry A. Kissinger
"I was provided with additional input that was radically different from the truth. I assisted in furthering that version."
- Oliver North, 1985, IranContra testimony
"Power attracts the corruptible. Absolute power attracts the absolutely corruptible."
- Frank Herbert
"...one of [Jack Abramoff's] great gifts was being able to tell people what they wanted to hear, and this was how he was able to sell things and get them into trouble."
- Alex Gibney, director and writer of the 2010 film Casino Jack and the United States of Money
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