---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Become corrupt, corrupt, and you will…"
description: "\"Become corrupt, corrupt, and you will cease to suffer!\" This has been the cry of all cities to man...\" — Alfred de Musset"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea1/alfred-de-musset-4813_cease_become-corrupt-corrupt-and-you-will-ceas_2305003.jpg"
---

#  Become corrupt, corrupt, and you will cease to suffer!"…

![“Become corrupt, corrupt, and you will cease to suffer!&quot; This has been the cry of all cities to man...” quote by Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea1/alfred-de-musset-4813_cease_become-corrupt-corrupt-and-you-will-ceas_2305003.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea1/alfred-de-musset-4813_cease_become-corrupt-corrupt-and-you-will-ceas_2305003.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea1/alfred-de-musset-4813_cease_become-corrupt-corrupt-and-you-will-ceas_2305003.jpg)

> “Become corrupt, corrupt, and you will cease to suffer!" This has been the cry of all cities to man...”

[Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Corruption promises relief, but it ultimately perpetuates suffering.

**In simple terms:** Corruption doesn’t end pain.

Key Takeaway

Reject corruption to break the cycle.

Themes

morality corruption freedom

Mood

critical thought‑provoking

Type

philosophical ethical

When to use this quote

- legal reform
- ethical education
- activism
- corporate governance
- personal integrity training

Key Concepts

ethical philosophy social decay personal responsibility

Questions to Reflect On

- Why does corruption fail to bring true peace?
- What alternatives offer genuine relief?

A Different Perspective

Some may view corruption as survival.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Cry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cry/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/)

## Related quotes

> [“When we suspend fear and judgment, we cease to suffer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-aman/when-we-suspend-fear-and-judgment-we-cease-to-suffer/)

[Jodi Aman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-aman/)

> [Washington is corrupt and corrupt on both sides of the aisle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-searcy/washington-is-corrupt-and-corrupt-on-both-sides-of-the-aisle/)

[Nick Searcy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-searcy/)

> [“We want to believe that there were better men once. That makes us think it could be that way again. But people don't change.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/we-want-to-believe-that-there-were-better-men-once-that-makes-us/)

[Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/)

> [“When it comes to politicians, the question is not ‘Are they corrupt?’, but rather ‘How corrupt are they?’.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/when-it-comes-to-politicians-the-question-is-not-are-they-corrupt-but/)

[Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/)

> [“The state of health is a state of nonsensation, even nonreality. As soon as we cease to suffer, we cease to exist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/the-state-of-health-is-a-state-of-nonsensation-even-nonreality-as/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [“It’s so easy to lose faith and become lost in all of the politics of the world. That’s why we need the arts. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/it-s-so-easy-to-lose-faith-and-become-lost-in-all-of-the-politics-of/)

[Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/)

> [I have so many positive points. I am not corrupt, I am competent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamilisai-soundararajan/i-have-so-many-positive-points-i-am-not-corrupt-i-am-competent/)

[Tamilisai Soundararajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamilisai-soundararajan/)

> [The Islamist camp is infused with a righteous indignation, as the forces of old, corrupt and rotten Egypt unite to try and drive them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crispin-blunt/the-islamist-camp-is-infused-with-a-righteous-indignation-as-the/)

[Crispin Blunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crispin-blunt/)

> [Corruption hates what is not corrupt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-park/corruption-hates-what-is-not-corrupt/)

Paul Park

> [The problem is that when you grow absolutely certain that all authorities are corrupt, then that would include the Palestinian authorities as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elia-suleiman/the-problem-is-that-when-you-grow-absolutely-certain-that-all/)

[Elia Suleiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elia-suleiman/)

> [What astonishes many of us is not so much that human nature is fundamentally corrupt; we are astonished rather that it does not behave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morton-irving-seiden/what-astonishes-many-of-us-is-not-so-much-that-human-nature-is/)

Morton Irving Seiden

> [Chicago's been under the grip of the corrupt and broken political machine for as long as everybody's memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-lightfoot/chicago-s-been-under-the-grip-of-the-corrupt-and-broken-political/)

[Lori Lightfoot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-lightfoot/)

> [Chicago is unique. It is the only completely corrupt city in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-edward-merriam/chicago-is-unique-it-is-the-only-completely-corrupt-city-in-america/)

[Charles Edward Merriam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-edward-merriam/)

> [The Democrats and the Republicans are equally corrupt where money is concerned. It's only in the amount where the Republicans excel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/the-democrats-and-the-republicans-are-equally-corrupt-where-money-is/)

[Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/)

> [“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-emerich-edward-dalberg-acton/power-tends-to-corrupt-and-absolute-power-corrupts-absolutely-great/)

[John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-emerich-edward-dalberg-acton/)

## More by Alfred de Musset

> [Alas, everything that men say to one another is alike; the ideas they exchange are almost always the same, in their conversation. But inside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/alas-everything-that-men-say-to-one-another-is-alike-the-ideas-they/)

[Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

> [A lively retrospect summons back to us once more our youth, with vivid reflex of its early joys and unstained pleasures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/a-lively-retrospect-summons-back-to-us-once-more-our-youth-with-vivid/)

[Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

> [The mouth keeps silent to hear the heart speak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/the-mouth-keeps-silent-to-hear-the-heart-speak/)

[Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

> [The costliest women are the ones who cost nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/the-costliest-women-are-the-ones-who-cost-nothing/)

[Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

> [“During the wars of the Empire, while husbands and brothers were in Germany, anxious mothers gave birth to an ardent, pale, and neurotic generation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/during-the-wars-of-the-empire-while-husbands-and-brothers-were-in/)

[Alfred De Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

> [I don't know where my road is going, but I know that I walk better when I hold your hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/i-don-t-know-where-my-road-is-going-but-i-know-that-i-walk-better/)

[Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

> [“As soon as we entered I plunged into the giddy whirl of the waltz. That delightful exercise has always been dear to me; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/as-soon-as-we-entered-i-plunged-into-the-giddy-whirl-of-the-waltz/)

[Alfred De Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

> [As all the perfumes of the vanished dayRise from the earth still moistened with the dewSo from my chastened soul beneath thy rayOld love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/as-all-the-perfumes-of-the-vanished-dayrise-from-the-earth-still/)

[Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

> [It was one of those somber evenings when the sighing of the wind resembles the moans of a dying man; a storm was brewing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/it-was-one-of-those-somber-evenings-when-the-sighing-of-the-wind/)

[Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

> [“Your name, merely your name, floods my brain to a point of sweet disgust.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/your-name-merely-your-name-floods-my-brain-to-a-point-of-sweet-disgust/)

[Alfred De Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

> [Partake of love as a temperate man partakes of wine; do not become intoxicated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/partake-of-love-as-a-temperate-man-partakes-of-wine-do-not-become/)

[Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

> [How glorious it is - and also how painful - to be an exception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/how-glorious-it-is-and-also-how-painful-to-be-an-exception/)

[Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

> [“Laurette ! Laurette ! Ah ! je me sens plus lâche qu’une femme. Mon désespoir me tue ; il faut que je pleure. ( RAZETTA )”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/laurette-laurette-ah-je-me-sens-plus-l-che-qu-une-femme-mon-d-sespoir/)

[Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

> [Christianity ruined emperors, but saved peoples.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/christianity-ruined-emperors-but-saved-peoples/)

[Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

> [life is a deep sleep of which love is the dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/life-is-a-deep-sleep-of-which-love-is-the-dream/)

[Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

[Explore all 82 Alfred de Musset quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

## More Cease quotes

> [So long as we fear the outside world, we must cease to think of Swaraj.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/so-long-as-we-fear-the-outside-world-we-must-cease-to-think-of-swaraj/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [In the name of Jerusalem. If I forget the extermination of the Jews, may my right hand wither, may my tongue stick to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/menachem-begin/in-the-name-of-jerusalem-if-i-forget-the-extermination-of-the-jews/)

[Menachem Begin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/menachem-begin/)

> [But if you will recall the history of our civil troubles, you will see half the nation bathe itself, out of piety, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/but-if-you-will-recall-the-history-of-our-civil-troubles-you-will-see/)

[Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/)

> [Metallica's the only band i've ever been in. I'm not sure that when it ends in five, ten years, I'm going to put an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lars-ulrich/metallica-s-the-only-band-i-ve-ever-been-in-i-m-not-sure-that-when-it/)

[Lars Ulrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lars-ulrich/)

> [Cease speaking of enemies when an achievement can kindle a great light. Solitude will transmit the message better than the murmurs of crowds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-roerich/cease-speaking-of-enemies-when-an-achievement-can-kindle-a-great/)

Nicholas Roerich

> [Without a function, we cease to be. So, I will write till I die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farley-mowat/without-a-function-we-cease-to-be-so-i-will-write-till-i-die/)

[Farley Mowat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farley-mowat/)

> [We have won an armistice on a single battlefield, not peace in our world. We may not now relax our guard nor cease our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/we-have-won-an-armistice-on-a-single-battlefield-not-peace-in-our/)

[Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/)

> [My child, seek those things which make for peace. Cease to stir up the King against the Church, and urge upon him a better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/my-child-seek-those-things-which-make-for-peace-cease-to-stir-up-the/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [To write is to make oneself the echo of what cannot cease speaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/to-write-is-to-make-oneself-the-echo-of-what-cannot-cease-speaking/)

[Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/)

> [Were the life of man prolonged, he would become such a proficient in villainy, that it would become necessary again to drown or to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/were-the-life-of-man-prolonged-he-would-become-such-a-proficient-in/)

[Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/)

> [When fear ceases to scare you, it cannot stay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-zukav/when-fear-ceases-to-scare-you-it-cannot-stay/)

[Gary Zukav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-zukav/)

> [We may argue eloquently that 'Honesty is the best Policy' - unfortunately, the moment honesty is adopted for the sake of policy it mysteriously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/we-may-argue-eloquently-that-honesty-is-the-best-policy-unfortunately/)

[Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/)

> [He who ceases to pray ceases to prosper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gurney-benham/he-who-ceases-to-pray-ceases-to-prosper/)

[William Gurney Benham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gurney-benham/)

> [For we must share, if we would keep, that blessing from above; ceasing to give, we cease to have; such is the law of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-chenevix-trench/for-we-must-share-if-we-would-keep-that-blessing-from-above-ceasing/)

[Richard Chenevix Trench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-chenevix-trench/)

> [When men are unhappy, they do not imagine they can ever cease to be so; and when some calamity has fallen on them, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/when-men-are-unhappy-they-do-not-imagine-they-can-ever-cease-to-be-so/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

Browse all 1,358 Cease quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Become corrupt, corrupt, and you will cease to suffer!\" This has been the cry of all cities to man...",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Alfred de Musset"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/become-corrupt-corrupt-and-you-will-cease-to-suffer-this-has-been-the/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Cease"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/become-corrupt-corrupt-and-you-will-cease-to-suffer-this-has-been-the/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea1/alfred-de-musset-4813_cease_become-corrupt-corrupt-and-you-will-ceas_2305003.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea1/alfred-de-musset-4813_cease_become-corrupt-corrupt-and-you-will-ceas_2305003.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea1/alfred-de-musset-4813_cease_become-corrupt-corrupt-and-you-will-ceas_2305003.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Become corrupt, corrupt, and you will cease to suffer!\" This has been the cry of all cities to man...” — Alfred de Musset",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Alfred de Musset",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Become corrupt, corrupt, and you will...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/become-corrupt-corrupt-and-you-will-cease-to-suffer-this-has-been-the/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/become-corrupt-corrupt-and-you-will-cease-to-suffer-this-has-been-the/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
