--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The greatest measure of the nineteenth…" description: "\"The greatest measure of the nineteenth century was passed by corruption, aided and abetted by the purest man in America.\" — Thaddeus Stevens" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba1/thaddeus-stevens-28558_amendment-13_the-greatest-measure-of-the-nineteenth-c_846696.jpg" --- # The greatest measure of the nineteenth century was passed… ![“The greatest measure of the nineteenth century was passed by corruption, aided and abetted by the purest man in America.” quote by Thaddeus Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba1/thaddeus-stevens-28558_amendment-13_the-greatest-measure-of-the-nineteenth-c_846696.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba1/thaddeus-stevens-28558_amendment-13_the-greatest-measure-of-the-nineteenth-c_846696.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba1/thaddeus-stevens-28558_amendment-13_the-greatest-measure-of-the-nineteenth-c_846696.jpg) > “The greatest measure of the nineteenth century was passed by corruption, aided and abetted by the purest man in America.” [Thaddeus Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Corruption was measured by the involvement of even the most virtuous citizens, highlighting systemic moral decay. **In simple terms:** Even good people can enable corruption. Key Takeaway Beware of moral compromise. Themes politics corruption morality Mood cautious critical Type political historical When to use this quote - government reform - journalistic investigation - civic education Key Concepts systemic decay ethical compromise Questions to Reflect On - How can societies hold virtuous leaders accountable? - What safeguards prevent moral complicity? A Different Perspective Corruption often persists despite individual integrity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Corruption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corruption/) [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nineteenth century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nineteenth-century/) ## Related quotes > [“The greatest measure of success is the amount of joy you experience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-cornelio/the-greatest-measure-of-success-is-the-amount-of-joy-you-experience/) [Marie Cornelio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-cornelio/) > [“It's what you've done with your time, how you've chosen to spend your days, and whom you've touched this year. That, to me, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-palacio/it-s-what-you-ve-done-with-your-time-how-you-ve-chosen-to-spend-your/) [R.J. Palacio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-palacio/) > [The greatest measure of a man is who he is when nobody is looking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-friend/the-greatest-measure-of-a-man-is-who-he-is-when-nobody-is-looking/) Jeffrey Friend > [We must understand that the highest form of freedom carries with it the greatest measure of discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-must-understand-that-the-highest-form-of-freedom-carries-with-it/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [“True kindness is the greatest measure of a person.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cardillo/true-kindness-is-the-greatest-measure-of-a-person/) Margaret Cardillo > [“The greatest measure of success is that which is not noticed at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ge-paulus/the-greatest-measure-of-success-is-that-which-is-not-noticed-at-all/) [GE Paulus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ge-paulus/) > [The best way to measure how much you've grown isn't by inches or the number of laps you can now run around the track,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-best-way-to-measure-how-much-you-ve-grown-isn-t-by-inches-or-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The powers of the sword are in the hands of the yeomanry of America from sixteen to sixty. The militia of these free commonwealths,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tench-coxe/the-powers-of-the-sword-are-in-the-hands-of-the-yeomanry-of-america/) [Tench Coxe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tench-coxe/) > [To disarm the people... was the best and most effectual way to enslave them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mason/to-disarm-the-people-was-the-best-and-most-effectual-way-to-enslave/) [George Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mason/) > [A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/a-well-regulated-militia-being-necessary-to-the-security-of-a-free/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [The balance of power is the scale of peace. The same balance would be preserved were all the world not destitute of arms, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-balance-of-power-is-the-scale-of-peace-the-same-balance-would-be/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/laws-that-forbid-the-carrying-of-arms-disarm-only-those-who-are-2/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [For an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/for-an-unarmed-man-may-be-attacked-with-greater-confidence-than-an/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/what-country-can-preserve-its-liberties-if-its-rulers-are-not-warned/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Laws that forbid the carrying of arms . . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/laws-that-forbid-the-carrying-of-arms-disarm-only-those-who-are/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## More by Thaddeus Stevens > [I care not whether the soldiers are of Milesian, Teutonic, African or Angelo-Saxon descent. I despise the principle that make a difference between them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/i-care-not-whether-the-soldiers-are-of-milesian-teutonic-african-or/) [Thaddeus Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) > [I can never acknowledge the right of slavery. I will bow down to no deity however worshipped by professing Christians - however dignified by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/i-can-never-acknowledge-the-right-of-slavery-i-will-bow-down-to-no/) [Thaddeus Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) > [I will be satisfied if my epitaph shall be written thus: 'Here lies one who never rose to any eminence, who only courted the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/i-will-be-satisfied-if-my-epitaph-shall-be-written-thus-here-lies-one/) [Thaddeus Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) > [I don’t hold with equality in all things only with equality before the law and nothing more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/i-don-t-hold-with-equality-in-all-things-only-with-equality-before/) [Thaddeus Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) > [Every humane and patriotic heart must grieve to see a bloody and causeless rebellion, costing thousands of human lives and millions of treasure. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/every-humane-and-patriotic-heart-must-grieve-to-see-a-bloody-and/) [Thaddeus Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) > [Strip the proud nobility of their bloated estates, reduce them to a level with plain republicans, send forth to labor, and teach their children…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/strip-the-proud-nobility-of-their-bloated-estates-reduce-them-to-a/) [Thaddeus Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) > [I wish the Indians had newspapers of their own. If they had, you would have horrible pictures of the cold-blooded murders of inoffensive Indians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/i-wish-the-indians-had-newspapers-of-their-own-if-they-had-you-would/) [Thaddeus Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) > [I answer, because I live among men and not among angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/i-answer-because-i-live-among-men-and-not-among-angels/) [Thaddeus Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) > [“Do you inquire why, holding these views and possessing some will of my own, i accept so imperfect a proposition? I answer, because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/do-you-inquire-why-holding-these-views-and-possessing-some-will-of-my/) [Thaddeus Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) > [There can be no fanatics in the cause of genuine liberty. Fanaticism is excessive zeal. There may be, and have been fanatics in false…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/there-can-be-no-fanatics-in-the-cause-of-genuine-liberty-fanaticism/) [Thaddeus Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) > [“kill trhe beast before it kills you”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/kill-trhe-beast-before-it-kills-you/) [thaddeus stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) > [The freedom of a government does not depend on the quality of its laws, but upon the power that has the right to create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/the-freedom-of-a-government-does-not-depend-on-the-quality-of-its/) [Thaddeus Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) > [The future condition of the conquered power depends on the will of the conquerer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/the-future-condition-of-the-conquered-power-depends-on-the-will-of/) [Thaddeus Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) > [I wished that I were the owner of every southern slave, that I might cast off the shackles from their limbs, and witness the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/i-wished-that-i-were-the-owner-of-every-southern-slave-that-i-might/) [Thaddeus Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) > [Retain, even in opposition, your capacity for astonishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/retain-even-in-opposition-your-capacity-for-astonishment/) [Thaddeus Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) [Explore all 19 Thaddeus Stevens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/) ## More Amendment 13 quotes > [Laws that forbid the carrying of arms . . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/laws-that-forbid-the-carrying-of-arms-disarm-only-those-who-are/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/what-country-can-preserve-its-liberties-if-its-rulers-are-not-warned/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [For an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/for-an-unarmed-man-may-be-attacked-with-greater-confidence-than-an/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/laws-that-forbid-the-carrying-of-arms-disarm-only-those-who-are-2/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The balance of power is the scale of peace. The same balance would be preserved were all the world not destitute of arms, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-balance-of-power-is-the-scale-of-peace-the-same-balance-would-be/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/a-well-regulated-militia-being-necessary-to-the-security-of-a-free/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [To disarm the people... was the best and most effectual way to enslave them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mason/to-disarm-the-people-was-the-best-and-most-effectual-way-to-enslave/) [George Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mason/) > [The powers of the sword are in the hands of the yeomanry of America from sixteen to sixty. The militia of these free commonwealths,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tench-coxe/the-powers-of-the-sword-are-in-the-hands-of-the-yeomanry-of-america/) [Tench Coxe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tench-coxe/) > [ When the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British parliament was advised by an artful man \[Sir William Keith\], who… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mason/when-the-resolution-of-enslaving-america-was-formed-in-great-britain/) [George Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mason/) > [A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/a-free-people-ought-not-only-to-be-armed-but-disciplined-to-which-end/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man gainst his own bosom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tench-coxe/who-are-the-militia-are-they-not-ourselves-is-it-feared-then-that-we/) [Tench Coxe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tench-coxe/) > [Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation… Notwithstanding the military establishments in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/besides-the-advantage-of-being-armed-which-the-americans-possess-over/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-henry-lee/to-preserve-liberty-it-is-essential-that-the-whole-body-of-people/) [Richard Henry Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-henry-lee/) > [I ask you sir, who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mason/i-ask-you-sir-who-are-the-militia-they-consist-now-of-the-whole-people/) [George Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mason/) > [ Militias, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves and include all men capable of bearing arms. \[...\] To preserve liberty it is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-henry-lee/militias-when-properly-formed-are-in-fact-the-people-themselves-and/) [Richard Henry Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-henry-lee/) Browse all 20 Amendment 13 quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The greatest measure of the nineteenth century was passed by corruption, aided and abetted by the purest man in America.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thaddeus Stevens" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/the-greatest-measure-of-the-nineteenth-century-was-passed-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Amendment 13" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/the-greatest-measure-of-the-nineteenth-century-was-passed-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba1/thaddeus-stevens-28558_amendment-13_the-greatest-measure-of-the-nineteenth-c_846696.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba1/thaddeus-stevens-28558_amendment-13_the-greatest-measure-of-the-nineteenth-c_846696.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba1/thaddeus-stevens-28558_amendment-13_the-greatest-measure-of-the-nineteenth-c_846696.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The greatest measure of the nineteenth century was passed by corruption, aided and abetted by the purest man…” — Thaddeus Stevens", "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": "Thaddeus Stevens", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-stevens/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The greatest measure of the nineteenth...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/the-greatest-measure-of-the-nineteenth-century-was-passed-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-stevens/the-greatest-measure-of-the-nineteenth-century-was-passed-by/#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 } } ] } ```