The mechanism that directs government cannot be virtuous, because it is impossible to thwart every crime, to protect oneself from every criminal without being criminal too; that which directs corrupt mankind must be corrupt itself; and it will never be by means of virtue, virtue being inert and passive, that you will maintain control over vice, which is ever active: the governor must be more energetic than the governed.

Famous Quotes / Marquis de Sade

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Marquis de Sade: "The mechanism that directs government cannot be virtuous, because it is impossible to thwart every crime, to protect oneself from every criminal without being criminal too; that which directs corrupt mankind must be corrupt itself; and it will never be by means of virtue, virtue being inert and passive, that you will maintain control over vice, which is ever active: the governor must be more energetic than the governed."

Quotations about

Active	Because	Control	Corrupt
Crime	Criminal	Directs	Energetic
Every	Governed	Government	Governor
Impossible	Inert	Itself	Maintain
Mankind	Means	Mechanism	Must
Oneself	Over	Passive	Protect
Thwart	Vice	Virtue	Virtuous
Without

Quotes by Power Quotations

The mechanism that directs government cannot be virtuous, because it is impossible to thwart every crime, to protect oneself from every criminal without being criminal too; that which directs corrupt mankind must be corrupt itself; and it will never be by means of virtue, virtue being inert and passive, that you will maintain control over vice, which is ever active: the governor must be more energetic than the governed. - Marquis de Sade