Quotes & Sayings About Bribery

The President of the United States would be liable to be impeached, tried, and upon conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors, removed from office; and would afterwards be liable to prosecution and punishment in the ordinary course of law. The person of the King of Great Britain is sacred and inviolable: There is no constitutional tribunal to which he is amenable, no punishment to which he can be subjected without involving the crisis of a national revolution. — Alexander Hamilton

[the downfall of our political system is the] buying and selling of politicians ... bribery. In the private sector, you're arrested for it. In the public sector, it's the norm ... — Jesse Ventura

Laws are a fine thing on paper, but painful when no bribery can ease their bind. — Paolo Bacigalupi

Don't come back till you have him! the Ticktockman said, very quietly, very sincerely, extremely dangerously.
They used dogs. They used probes. They used cardioplate crossoffs. They used teepers. They used bribery. They used stiktytes. They used intimidation. They used torment. They used torture. They used finks. They used cops. They used search&seizure. They used fallaron. They used betterment incentive. They used fingerprints. They used the Bertillon system. They used cunning. They used guile. They used treachery. They used Raoul Mitgong, but he didn't help much. They used applied physics. They used techniques of criminology.
And what the hell: they caught him. — Harlan Ellison

Every man has his price. — Robert Walpole

I do deeply deplore, of the sake of the cause, the prevalent notion, that the clergy must be had, either by persuasion or by bribery. They will not need persuasion or bribery, if their hearts are with us; if they are not, we are better without them. It is idle to suppose that the kingdom of heaven cannot come on earth, without their cooperation. — Sarah Moore Grimke

Parenting is mostly bribery . . . and yelling. — Matthew Norman

If someone really wants my company's business, why shouldn't he be able to do everything he can - including paying me off - to get that business? Because bribery encourages people to make decisions based on the wrong criteria, which means in the business world that it distorts the efficient allocation of resources. — James Surowiecki

Our earth is degenerate in these latter days; bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; every man wants to write a book, and the end of the world is evidently approaching." - From an ancient Assyrian tablet. — Sidney Homer

Every time there's elections, we hand out cash. Usually to both sides, but this time the government is going to win for sure. The opposition is in a total mess. So we just have to pay off the government, which is good for us. — Aravind Adiga

Upon the exposure of his bribery, it is reported he said, I should have paid more. — David Ebershoff

There are many hands touching ballots after a voter drops his ballot into the ballot box. There is no guarantee of ballot secrecy for anyone, which makes the whole system vulnerable to intimidation and bribery. — Bob Schaffer

But there will be no justice, there will be no government of the people, by the people, and for the people, as long as the government and its officials permit bribery in any form. — John Jay Hooker

We meant to temporarily disable her," Ian said. "Just a drop. But Natalie slipped during air turbulence. Before we could warn your nose-ringed nanny, she drenched us. Luckily, she allowed us to retrieve the antidote from our carry-on." "That's kindness," Amy said. "I made them agree to give me all their cash," Nellie explained. "That's bribery," Natalie grumbled. — Peter Lerangis

In poor countries, officials receive explicit bribes; in D.C. they get the sophisticated, implicit, unspoken promise to work for large corporations — Nassim Nicholas Taleb

You have to decide what those issues are for you. What do you think disqualifies a person from holding public office? I believe that the endorsement of the right to kill unborn children disqualifies a person from any position of public office. It's simply the same as saying that the endorsement of racism, fraud, or bribery, would disqualify him - except that child-killing is more serious than those. — John Piper

If you work hard, and give up certain things, and yes, resort to bribery now and then, you'll be an arborist, or a sea anemonist, or anything else you want. — Anthony Marra

An anomaly has his own ambitions. You can try reasoning with him, but that's like using money to bribe a beast. — Criss Jami

Beauty is the first recognition of truth, great or small; Ugliness is the villain counter-posed to eradicate the internalization and eternalization of truth."

"Lonely individuals have the most fulfilling conversations upon the mutual recognition of pathos in one another's eyes."

"Rules are the first weapon of cowards, fascists, and dullards. The cunning and anarchists and steadfast use the rules only as a last resort. After reason, logic, bribery, creativity, pleas for decency, and empathy--rules are all that before one must quietly plan an disproportionate response (like automotive sabotage or murder made to look like an accident. — James W. Hritz

The Eskimos have thirty words for describing different kinds of snow, and modern Russian has about the same number of expressions to describe giving a bribe to a state official. — Victor Pelevin

By ten o'clock she thought he might soon be ready to talk. He'd threatened, blustered, even tried to sweet-talk her. Then the bribery had begun. He'd let her live if she let him out immediately. He'd give her three horses, two sheep, and a cow. He'd give her a pouch of coin, three horses, two sheep, not just a cow but a milking cow, and set her up anywhere in England, if she would just leave his castle and not bother him again for the rest of his life. The only offer/threat that had perked her momentary interest was when he'd shouted that he was going to "toop her 'til her bonny legs fell off."
She should be so lucky. — Karen Marie Moning

He loathed the cruelty and brutality of its leaders, who had "gained power more by bribery, backstabbing, toadyism, and favoritism than by knowledge and competence. — Tennent H. Bagley

In my opinion it is less shameful for a king to be overcome by force of arms than by bribery. — Sallust

The quest to sin always knocks at the door of the heart, but behold! You have the right and will to open your door or never to mind the knocks, no matter how intense it is! — Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

Until the nineteen-seventies, Western countries paid little attention to corruption overseas, and bribery was seen as an unpleasant but necessary part of doing business there. In some European countries, businesses were even allowed to deduct bribes as an expense. — James Surowiecki

For several Roman observers, senatorial weakness for bribery was one major factor lying behind their failure: 'Rome's a city for sale and bound to fall as soon as it finds a buyer', as Jugurtha was supposed to have quipped when he left the city. The general incompetence of the governing class was another. — Mary Beard

I do not spoil women ... I don't send them flowers and gifts ... I'm saving those gestures until I am an unpleasant old man who must resort to bribery to win a woman's synthetic affections. — George Sanders

If religious belief be indeed so necessary to mankind, as we are continually assured that it is, there is great reason to lament, that the intellectual grounds of it should require to be backed by moral bribery or subornation of the understanding. — John Stuart Mill

Imagine if investors in Wal-Mart really cared about bribery at that company's overseas operations or safety standards at its overseas manufacturing plants. If investors pulled their capital, corporate leaders would have to respond. — Eliot Spitzer

Don't vote for Republicans or Democrats until they clean up the open system of bribery that we live under. — Bill Maher

Unfortunately, the trading of political influence for money has come back in a big way in American politics, this time in a form that is perfectly legal and much harder to eradicate. Criminalized bribery is narrowly defined in American law as a transaction in which a politician and a private party explicitly agree upon a specific quid pro quo exchange. What is not covered by the law is what biologists call reciprocal altruism, or what an anthropologist might label a gift exchange. In a relationship of reciprocal altruism, one person confers a benefit on another with no explicit expectation that it will immediately buy a return favor, unlike an impersonal market transaction. — Francis Fukuyama

Our form of democracy is bribery, on the highest scale. — Gore Vidal

Corruption is not bribery but bribery is corruption. — Auliq Ice

Is this blackmail or bribery?"
"Neither. It's insurance."
"Insurance?"
"Yeah. That's twelve cups of coffee. Twelve trips to Grounds. Twelve chances to see you. — Kim Holden

Nobody from the Amazing Kingdom bothered to check with previous employers, such as the New York City Police Department, to inquire about allegations of bribery, moral turpitude, substance abuse, witness tampering and the unnecessary use of deadly force, to wit, the pistol-whipping of a young man suspected of shoplifting a bag of cheese-flavored Doritos. — Carl Hiaasen

William Andrews Clark was caught in a bribery scandal during a campaign for the U.S. Senate - he was said to describe the Montana legislators this way: 'I never bought a man who wasn't for sale.' — Bill Dedman

If bribery is good enough for Congress, it's good enough for me. — Eddie Griffin

When Americans think of college these days, the first word that often comes to mind is 'debt.' And from 'debt' it's just a short hop to other unpleasant words, like 'payola,' 'kickback,' and 'bribery.' — James Surowiecki

But in Africa bureaucrats are usually too proud to accept a bribe, something I admire when I'm not the one being arrested. — Tahir Shah

Blackmail threats are e-mails from madmen. — Michael Bassey Johnson

The gorillas are not yet sufficiently advanced in evolutionary terms to have discovered the benefits of passports, currency-declaration forms, and official bribery, and therefore tend to wander backward and forward across the border as and when their beastly, primitive whim takes them. — Douglas Adams

Most of the money given by rich people in "charity" is made up of conscience money, "ransom," political bribery, and bids for titles ... One buys moral credit by signing a cheque, which is easier than turning a prayer wheel. — George Bernard Shaw

Even if he cannot put his hands on the foreign investment, or receive gifts or bribery, he will explore all means of Chinese hospitality, conferences, shark fun lunch, and foot massages, thus will indulge the high-flyer life of the moment, all on his organization's or the government's bill. Naturally, the Chinese host will want to bring his friends, and lengthen the negotiations. — Thorsten J. Pattberg

Abuse of gift-giving can occur when a child is living with a custodial parent following a separation or divorce. The noncustodial parent is often tempted to shower a child with gifts, perhaps from the pain of separation or feelings of guilt over leaving the family. When these gifts are overly expensive, ill-chosen, and used as a comparison with what the custodial parent can provide, they are really a form of bribery, an attempt to buy the child's love. They may also be a subconscious way of getting back at the custodial parent. Children receiving such ill-advised gifts may eventually see them for what they are, but in the meantime they are learning that at least one parent regards gifts as a substitute for genuine love. This can make children materialistic and manipulative, as they learn to manage people's feelings and behavior by the improper use of gifts. This kind of substitution can have tragic consequences for the children's character and integrity. — Gary Chapman

The Indonesian nationalists, mainly Javanese, who threw the Dutch out - in 1949, after a four-year struggle - were keen to preserve their inheritance and emulated the coercion, deceit, and bribery of the colonial rulers. — Pankaj Mishra

One of the biggest curses from which India is suffering - I do not say that other countries are free from it, but I think our condition is much worse - is bribery and corruption. That really is a poison. — Muhammad Ali Jinnah

If Christianity is a mere invention of man, and the Bible is not from God, how can infidels explain Jesus Christ? His existence in history they cannot deny. How is it that without force or bribery, without arms or money, He has made such an immensely deep mark on the world as He certainly has? — J.C. Ryle

I don't think it's bribery; I think it's extortion. Bribery, you know, is when the person that's giving the money does it voluntarily. What it is in Washington is extortion because they all ask for the money. — John McCain

Bribery quickly became an integral part of the Russian way of doing business, and the expense of buying a government official was considered the most important part of a new enterprise's starting capital. — David Satter

One gift, one time--that's bribery. Lots of gifts over a long time--that's politics.'-- Roland Vanatua, from The Coup — Jamie Malanowski

Money bought access. But the Second American Revolution had happened, people began taking the Constitution seriously again, and the practice of renting and buying congressmen had been stopped by the simple expedient of getting money out of the campaigns. Contributions of all types became illegal. Campaigns were funded by the voters. You gave money to a politician, it constituted bribery, and you could go to jail. — Jack McDevitt

We must teach our people to reject gain from extortion, bribery, unrighteous grafts as something utterly abhorring. — Sunday Adelaja

It looks like bribery. I mean,there is every appearance that Hillary Clinton was bribed to grease the sale of, what, 20 percent of America's uranium production to
Russia, and then it was covered up by lying about a meeting with her home
with the principals, and by erasing e-mails. And I presume we might know
for sure whether there was or was not bribery if she hadn't wiped out
you know, out thousands of e-mails. — Jedediah Bila

In a place of extreme violence and devoid of order, the practical subsumes the principle. I drifted down the path of bribery and corruption endemic to the streets of Baghdad — Jason Whiteley

Goodness than depends on fear of hell or fear of the policeman or fear of punishment is not goodness at all - it is simply cowardice. Goodness than depends on hope of reward or hope of praise or hope of heaven depends on bribery. — A.S. Neill

Honesty stands at the gate and knocks, and bribery enters in. — Barnabe Rich

They have seized upon the government by bribery and corruption. They have made speculation and public robbery a science. They have loaded the nation, the state, the county, and the city with debt. — Denis Kearney

Being a cat means beautiful, agile, innocent, brave, curious and trust also honorable respect for as much as not so doing bribery. — Sekar Arum

To the goats, all people are equal, except for those who have treats. — Karin Tidbeck

When the rich and the powerful rise they leave the powerless and the poor without possibility. — Auliq Ice

In the last few years, the very idea of telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is dredged up only as a final resort when the alternative options of deception, threat and bribery have all been exhausted. — Michael Musto

Mr. Keith, by means of some mysterious formula, soon procured two seats in the front row, the occupants of which smilingly took their places among the crowd at the back. — Norman Douglas

Many a man has been dined out of his religion, and his politics, and his manhood, almost. — Henry Ward Beecher

There will always be individuals who give enthusiastic support for the use of force to solve all the problems of the world. The neoconservatives, though less influential today than a decade ago, will not give up on their faith in violence. Let us take advantage of this new attitude among the people and help build the momentum away from the persistent effort to control the world through war and bribery. That destructive effort has been undertaken at the expense of those who are forced to fight in and pay for the wars benefiting the privileged few. — Ron Paul

We need to show the Congress that our Government is no longer on sale to the highest bidder. It belongs to the voters. — Kenneth Eade

Nothing ever works out when you are at the whims of others. It doesn't matter if you are an entrepreneur or an employee. Once someone is bribing you to do something (a salary is a form of bribery if you are only doing the work for the money and not for the meaning) then you become a prisoner. — James Altucher

Ah, the smell of old money, bribery, and religion first thing in the morning," Abriella said in a long sigh. "Smells like home, girls. — Bethany-Kris

What I don't like is what it sometimes takes to win. Backstabbing. Manipulation. Out-and-out bribery once in a while, and not always the monetary kind. — Ellen Hopkins

Not every gift must you stretch your hands to take! Sometimes, just put your hands by your side and humbly and courageously say thank you! — Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

I never bought a man who wasn't for sale.
-W.A. Clark, ascribed — Bill Dedman

As J.R. I could get away with anything - bribery, blackmail and adultery. But I got caught by cancer. I do want everyone to know that it is a very common and treatable form of cancer. I will be receiving treatment while working on the new 'Dallas' series. — Larry Hagman

What did "good government" really mean? Langlie and his brotherhood promised an end to political corruption. (There's no evidence that Langlie ever even took a drink, much less a bribe.) The days of "honest graft" were over, at least for a while. But seen from another perspective - that of ordinary citizens without access to Langlie and Abram's elite network - Langlie didn't so much end corruption as legalize it. Langlie wasn't opposed to a government organized around the interests of the greedy; he just didn't want to have to break the law to serve them. — Jeff Sharlet

Didn't we all grow up understanding that bribes and payoffs - - by whatever name or rationale - - were bad. And that people were supposed to be the focal point of society, not money? — Ray Bourhis

A government with all this mass of favours to give or to withhold, however free in name, wields a power of bribery scarcely surpassed by an avowed autocracy, rendering it master of the elections in almost any circumstances but those of rare and extraordinary public excitement. — John Stuart Mill

In the distance, a building explodes in flame. She has over a hundred men working this district, letting everyone feel the pain of real enforcement. Laws are a fine thing on paper, but painful when no bribery can ease their bind. People have forgotten this. — Paolo Bacigalupi

Society. Sins such as adultery, bribery, and betrayal are more like treason than like crime; they damage the social order. Social harmony can be rewoven only by slowly recommitting to relationships and rebuilding trust. The sins of arrogance and pride arise from a perverse desire for status and superiority. The only remedy for them is to humble oneself before others. In other words, people in earlier times inherited a vast moral vocabulary and set of moral tools, developed over centuries and handed down from generation to generation. This was a practical inheritance, like learning how to speak a certain language, which people could use to engage their own moral struggles. — David Brooks

Like most Americans I am no lover of cops, and the consistent investigation of city forces for bribery, brutality, and a long and picturesque list of malfeasances is not designed to reassure me. However, my hostility does not extend to the state troopers now maintained in most parts of the country. By the simple expedient of recruiting intelligent and educated men, paying them adequately, and setting them beyond political coercion, many states have succeeded in creating elite corps of men, secure in their dignity and proud of their service. Eventually our cities may find it necessary to reorganize their police on the pattern of the state police. But this will never happen while political organizations retain the slightest power to reward or to punish. — John Steinbeck

You could not bribe honest people, but bad people would accept bribery. — Anne Holm

That was what they did with themselves, those two Gracelings, along with a small band of friends: They stirred up trouble on a serious scale - bribery, coercion, sabotage, organized rebellion - all directed at stopping the worst behavior of the world's most seriously corrupt kings. — Kristin Cashore

It's all about the relationships; forming them and sustaining them, growing and building a back and forth that will be useful to both parties. Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of the practice so often seen today: a person decides that a particular God or Goddess is suitable for a one off ritual or occasion, calls them up, expects them to grant boons and favours and help out in whatever situation is being worked for, and then is never heard from again. If a complete stranger walked into your house and asked for a favour, however politely - would you be inclined to help? Possibly you would, and sometimes the Powers do too, if there is sufficient offering or perhaps bribery involved. They are not above being bought off. However, most people would be far more inclined to help out when a friend asks a favour, and this follows through with the Gods, in my experience. A give and take relationship is the most effective and respectful way I have found of working with them. — Lora O'Brien

Love is the essential ingredient. Without it, sex is meaningless, approval is bribery, and success is short-lived. — Vironika Tugaleva

No mortal thing can bear so high a price, But that with mortal thing it may be bought. — Walter Raleigh

British would use every means from persuasion to bribery in Morocco and when those failed the wives of British diplomats knew what they had to do to further Britain's interests. — Margaret MacMillan

What's the n-never-fail universal apology?"
"'I was badly misinformed, I deeply regret the error, go fuck yourself with this bag of money. — Scott Lynch

Rather than let their product compete fully and fairly in the marketplace, FalconStor resorted to bribery and graft to win important contracts in a scheme that reached the highest levels of the company. — Loretta Lynch

Blackmail is more effective than bribery. — John Le Carre

Dis is bribery, is it?" he whispered. "This is taxation, — Terry Pratchett

Bribery is against the law, and you know it. But it's not against the law to make a profit, is it? So it can't be against the law for me to bribe someone in order to make a fair profit, can it? No, of course not! — Joseph Heller

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
No one's immune to bribery. — Joanne Harris

Do not accept gifts; [because] that is bribery. — Umar

Indeed, bribery, favoritism, and corruption in a great variety of forms were rampant not only in politics, but in all levels of society. — David McCullough

I have tried my hand at bribery, blackmail, and deceit. And I've served time for everything, cept beggin on the street. — Bob Dylan

Behaving morally because of a hope of reward or a fear of punishment is not morality. Morality is not bribery or threats. Religion is bribery and threats. Humans have morality. We don't need religion. — Penn Jillette

my parents are very good at bribery. — Margaret Peterson Haddix

Perhaps if you win this one I can put a word in for you.You know, extra carrots and that sort of thing, a bit of molasses in the evening.A bigger brass plaque for your box at home."
"That's bribery," Keeley murmured.
Brian turned, his eyes going warm. "That's bargaining," he corrected. "But if I can interest you in a bribe," he began and opened the box door intending to snatch Keeley inside for a much anticipated welcome back kiss.
He nearly stepped over Mo. "Sorry. Didn't see you there."
"I'm short.That's my cross to bear. — Nora Roberts

It was like... oral bribery or some shit. And not even for her. I was quite possibly the only teenage hormonal motherfucker on earth being guilt tripped into receiving head. Unwillingly... — AngstGoddess003

Ah, bribery." He grinned at his niece. "is there anything it can't do? — Gina Damico

Petitions, not sweetened with gold, are but unsavory and oft refused; or, if received, are pocketed, not read. — Philip Massinger

Vogons are not above a little bribery and corruption in the same way that the sea is not above the clouds, — Douglas Adams

Consider this pronouncement, inscribed on an Assyrian tablet circa 2800 B.C.: Our earth is degenerate these days ... bribery and corruption abound, children no longer obey their parents, every man wants to write a book, and the end of the world is evidently approaching. — Neil DeGrasse Tyson