Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes

… the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes.

History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them.

There is none to tell the rich to go on striving, for a rich man makes the law that hallows and hollows his own life.

At times, some journalists see nothing in the people apart from an opportunity to make material gain. They see them as consumers to whom we sell commodities at huge profits that keep our bank accounts growing.

Capitalism has destroyed our belief in any effective power but that of self interest backed by force.

The law is solely made for the exploitation of those who do not understand it.

… egotists, exploiters and aristocrats

It's them that take advantage that get advantage in this world.

… as a rule capitalists and entrepreneurs are not saints excelling in the virtue of self-denial. But neither are their critics saintly.

… as long as men, even socialist men, even the best men in the world, make laws these will be to their advantage and to our disadvantage.

We had people who obviously didn’t have, necessarily, my best interest in mind… A lot of money was made, and a lot of advantage was taken.

It would be a most despicable thing to suggest I would exploit the poor for my own personal gain.

The James Brown story is not about James Brown. It's about who's getting paid, whose interest is involved, who can squeeze the estate and black history for more.

I don't understand when people are being greedy or mean, when they say who should get what, when they get control of someone else's life.

You have to be cynical because this is a business. Everyone is making money out of you.

Liberals feel unworthy of their possessions. Conservatives feel they deserve everything they've stolen.

But doesn't it seem like Chelsea's sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?

I am the only person here who is enjoying this, and I get the money; they pay and have to suffer.

The truth is that neither British nor American imperialism was or is idealistic. It has always been driven by economic or strategic interests.

As readers, we sense when the game is being played for real and when something else is afoot: pride, showmanship, the pursuit of power, self-aggrandizement, revenge, making money. Not that there's anything wrong with any of that, but I dislike closing a book with the sense that I've been had.

In the modern-day world, where time is premium and battle for subsistence is unimaginably tough, the hapless common man simply gives in and pays the bribe just to get on with life.

The great nations have always acted like gangsters, and the small nations like prostitutes.

The origin of all revolutions and corruption, and the spur and source of all base morals are just two sayings: The First Saying: 'So long as I'm full, what is it to me if others die of hunger?' The Second Saying: 'You suffer hardship so that I can live in ease; you work so that I can eat.'

Whenever there are some who have more opportunities than others, this feeds corruption.

As governor, I don't want my fair share. I want more than my fair share.