Historically the first philosopher to enquire deeply into the nature of corruption in society was Ibn Khaldun (1322-1406), whose wandering life was largely spent in the northern littoral of Africa at a time when kingdoms and sultanates were crumbling.
Pierre Stephen Robert Payne
A culture is not only the language and the arts of a people. It is all their history, all their hopes for the future.
culture people history art language
life nature thetimes time society
Where there had been hope, there was now hopelessness. Where there had been courage, there was now cynicism. Where there had been life, there was a living death. During Nixon's reign, much of life was transformed into a nightmare.
life cynicism death
For domination has nothing whatsoever to do with good government, and power as an end in itself destroys good government.
government power theend
Naked power has its limitations, since power is a generator of corruption and corruption in its turn tends to dilute the effectiveness of power.
power
It is no more rational to have lawyers in positions of power than it would be to have garbage collectors in positions of power. And in human terms garbage collectors would be preferable.
Conquest, tyranny, treachery, and the clash of cultures bring about corrupt societies, and so does old age. Sometimes the five faces of corruption are visible at the same time.
culture age thetimes time
Corrupt men are always liars. Lies are their instruments, their pleasure, their solace. In time they come to believe their lies, or rather to half-believe them.
men thetimes time
Throughout the history of Christianity, there had been a core of belief that man was not doomed to be everlastingly corrupt.
belief man history
All is forgiven to kings and popes. History grants them immunity, even a full pardon, even when they admit their crimes and glory in them.
crime glory history
It is precisely when we help one another that we gain our victories over corruption, but the victory is assured only when we help one another with all our strength.
strength victory help
At the heart of the mystery of corruption lies the desire of one man to impose his will on others to the largest possible extent.
mystery man
The corrupt man is nearly always rootless, deeply aware of his rootlessness.
man
Uncorrupted man, with God's blessing, advances across the fields of the universe as though he were walking down a country lane.
Sometimes societies die and putrefy long before they are pronounced dead, and sometimes men die of corruption long before they have taken to their deathbeds.
men
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