Ehud Olmert Quotes

Every time I see corruption, it pains me.

An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought.

Corruption never has been compulsory.

There can be no compromise regarding corruption.

When I saw corruption, I was forced to find truth on my own. I couldn't swallow the hypocrisy.

No public man can be just a little crooked.

If people want to get into leadership through corrupt practices, through corrupt means, I think that's detestable; we have to take action.

Do not take bribes, for they blind the clear-eyed and upset the pleas of the just.

Many government officials have very high moral standards at the beginning of their duties, but after a while some officials sway from the right path and easily fall into the temptation of bribery and fraud.

The greatest truth is honesty, and the greatest falsehood is dishonesty.

Integrity is the lifeblood of democracy. Deceit is a poison in its veins.

Truth made you a traitor as it often does in a time of scoundrels.

White lies always introduce others of a darker complexion.

All those men have their price.

Corruption is something you face all the time. Avoid it.

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

And you shall take no bribe; for the bribe blinds the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous:

I never did, or countenanced, in public life, a single act inconsistent with the strictest good faith; having never believed there was one code of morality for a public, and another for a private man.

In politics there is no honor.

Certainly he [Richard M. Nixon] is not of the generation that regards honesty as the best policy.

Keep your hands clean and pure from the infamous vice of corruption, a vice so infamous that it degrades even the other vices that may accompany it.

It is impossible to deny that dishonest men often grow rich and famous, becoming powerful in their parish or in parliament. Their portraits grace shop windows; and they live and die respected. This success is theirs; yet it is not the success which a noble soul will envy.

Surely we don’t want the President to lie, we don’t want our senators to lie, we don’t want our congressmen to lie. But sometimes they do.

If you teach your boy that it is right to buy a vote, it is an easy step for him to learn to use money to bribe or corrupt officials or trustees of any class. If you teach your boy that it is right to steal votes, it is an easy step for him to believe that it is right to steal whatever he may need or greatly desire. The results of such an influence will enter every branch of society, it will reach your bank cashiers, and affect positions of trust in every department; it will ultimately enter your courts, and affect the administrations of justice.

Democracies can no longer tolerate bribery, fraud and dishonesty, especially as such practices disproportionately hurt the poor.