--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you are looking for corruption, you…" description: "\"When you are looking for corruption, you should look at the entire stratum of the society, while some forms of corruption are direct, others are indire..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/wole-soyinka-1587_corruption_when-you-are-looking-for-corruption-you_1953222.jpg" --- # When you are looking for corruption, you should look at… ![“When you are looking for corruption, you should look at the entire stratum of the society, while some forms of corruption are direct, others are indirect.” quote by Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/wole-soyinka-1587_corruption_when-you-are-looking-for-corruption-you_1953222.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/wole-soyinka-1587_corruption_when-you-are-looking-for-corruption-you_1953222.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/wole-soyinka-1587_corruption_when-you-are-looking-for-corruption-you_1953222.jpg) > “When you are looking for corruption, you should look at the entire stratum of the society, while some forms of corruption are direct, others are indirect.” [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Corruption permeates all layers of society; both overt and subtle forms exist **In simple terms:** Corruption is widespread and multifaceted Key Takeaway Address systemic issues at all levels Themes politics ethics justice society Mood critical analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - government policy - business practices - community norms - media reporting Key Concepts systemic corruption indirect influence Questions to Reflect On - How can hidden corruption be uncovered? - What role does citizen vigilance play? A Different Perspective Focusing only on visible corruption misses hidden harms ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Corruption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corruption/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) ## Related quotes > [REJECT ALL FORMS OF CORRUPTION THAT DIVERT RESOURCES FROM THE POOR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/reject-all-forms-of-corruption-that-divert-resources-from-the-poor/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [I saw money change votes.I mean, they just seem unaware of this, that money is something - if they want to see the appearance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-shields/i-saw-money-change-votes-i-mean-they-just-seem-unaware-of-this-that/) [Mark Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-shields/) > [Going to war accelerated the move from indirect to direct rule. Almost any state that makes war finds that it cannot pay for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-tilly/going-to-war-accelerated-the-move-from-indirect-to-direct-rule-almost/) [Charles Tilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-tilly/) > [Writing fiction, for me, is a more indirect form of self-exploration than writing verse. When I'm working on a novel I'm moving characters around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/writing-fiction-for-me-is-a-more-indirect-form-of-self-exploration/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [A fact is a proposition of which the verification by an appeal to the primary sources of our knowledge or to experience is directand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chauncey-wright/a-fact-is-a-proposition-of-which-the-verification-by-an-appeal-to-the/) [Chauncey Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chauncey-wright/) > [The fossil record implies trial and error, the inability to anticipate the future, features inconsistent with a Great Designer (though not a Designer of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-fossil-record-implies-trial-and-error-the-inability-to-anticipate/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [...Search for the cause may be a hopeless pursuit because most disease states are the indirect outcome of a constellation of circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-dubos/search-for-the-cause-may-be-a-hopeless-pursuit-because-most-disease/) [Rene Dubos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-dubos/) > [Sometimes indirect style and varying chronology is great, but quite often I've seen it be just something that gets in the way. It turns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mattison/sometimes-indirect-style-and-varying-chronology-is-great-but-quite/) [Alice Mattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mattison/) > [I think there are a lot of similarities between writing and music. Music is much more direct and much more emotional and that's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-ove-knausgard/i-think-there-are-a-lot-of-similarities-between-writing-and-music/) [Karl Ove Knausgard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-ove-knausgard/) > [In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/in-all-fighting-the-direct-method-may-be-used-for-joining-battle-but-2/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [Government has no wealth, and when a politician promises to give you something for nothing, he must first confiscate that wealth from you --…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wayne/government-has-no-wealth-and-when-a-politician-promises-to-give-you/) [John Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wayne/) > [In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/in-all-fighting-the-direct-method-may-be-used-for-joining-battle-but/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [We must always work, and a self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-ilyich-tchaikovsky/we-must-always-work-and-a-self-respecting-artist-must-not-fold-his/) [Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-ilyich-tchaikovsky/) > [Alfred Nobel believed that social changes are brought about slowly, and sometimes by indirect means.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertha-von-suttner/alfred-nobel-believed-that-social-changes-are-brought-about-slowly/) [Bertha von Suttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertha-von-suttner/) > [The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/the-problem-posed-by-indirect-speech-acts-is-the-problem-of-how-it-is/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) ## More by Wole Soyinka > [Writers and intellectuals have a duty to humanity. It is to insist that the human entity remains the primary asset in overall development; thus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/writers-and-intellectuals-have-a-duty-to-humanity-it-is-to-insist/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [When I tried to create a new political party, which I stressed that this is not my party. I believe very much that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/when-i-tried-to-create-a-new-political-party-which-i-stressed-that/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [Each time I think I've created time for myself, along comes a throwback to disrupt my private space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/each-time-i-think-i-ve-created-time-for-myself-along-comes-a/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [I began writing early - very, very early... I was already writing short stories for the radio and selling poems to poetry and art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-began-writing-early-very-very-early-i-was-already-writing-short/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [My horizon on humanity is enlarged by reading the writers of poems, seeing a painting, listening to some music, some opera, which has nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/my-horizon-on-humanity-is-enlarged-by-reading-the-writers-of-poems/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [Under a dictatorship, a nation ceases to exist. All that remains is a fiefdom, a planet of slaves regimented by aliens from outer-space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to-exist-all-that-remains-is-a/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [The phenomenon of creativity, we know, is closely related to the ability to yoke together separate, and even seemingly incompatible, matrices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-phenomenon-of-creativity-we-know-is-closely-related-to-the/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [One, a mass movement from within, which, as you know, is constantly being put down brutally but which, again, regroups and moves forward as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-a-mass-movement-from-within-which-as-you-know-is-constantly-being/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [One has to confront history honestly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-has-to-confront-history-honestly/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [We wasted a lot of creative energy in that immediate post colonial era, when there was a struggle between, you know, the Cold War…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/we-wasted-a-lot-of-creative-energy-in-that-immediate-post-colonial/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [I have a kind of magnetic attraction to situations of violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-have-a-kind-of-magnetic-attraction-to-situations-of-violence/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [The Egba kingdom was one of the very last to be ceded to the British protectorate. It remained almost an independent entity within what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-egba-kingdom-was-one-of-the-very-last-to-be-ceded-to-the-british/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [One's own self-worth is tied to the worth of the community to which one belongs, which is intimately connected to humanity in general. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/one-s-own-self-worth-is-tied-to-the-worth-of-the-community-to-which/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [I was born into a Christian household, in a parsonage in fact, so I grew up in sort of a missionary atmosphere but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-was-born-into-a-christian-household-in-a-parsonage-in-fact-so-i/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [The problem with literature, with writing, is that it works sometimes in terms of correction of social ills. Other times, it just does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/the-problem-with-literature-with-writing-is-that-it-works-sometimes/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) [Explore all 225 Wole Soyinka quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) ## More Corruption quotes > [We could form a government of national unity fighting corruption. The ordinary Afghan is sick and tired of it, because it's she or he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashraf-ghani/we-could-form-a-government-of-national-unity-fighting-corruption-the/) [Ashraf Ghani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashraf-ghani/) > [Right now we're concerned about budget. Right now we're concerned about the prospect of interest rate rise. We're concerned about government corruption, government handing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amity-shlaes/right-now-we-re-concerned-about-budget-right-now-we-re-concerned/) [Amity Shlaes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amity-shlaes/) > [In the lead up to the Iraq war and its later conduct, I saw at a minimum, true dereliction, negligence and irresponsibility, at worse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-zinni/in-the-lead-up-to-the-iraq-war-and-its-later-conduct-i-saw-at-a/) [Anthony Zinni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-zinni/) > [“Don't let cycles of violent crimes, uncontrollable, rising cases of bloody impunity, evil puppets in a crippled judiciary, marionettes in a corrupted legislative system…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelica-hopes/don-t-let-cycles-of-violent-crimes-uncontrollable-rising-cases-of/) [Angelica Hopes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelica-hopes/) > [What greater weakness can there be than not to know what is the source of one's being, of one's life, of one's senses, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/what-greater-weakness-can-there-be-than-not-to-know-what-is-the/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [My aim was to make money for the bank. You lose track of the amounts involved when you are engaged in this kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-kerviel/my-aim-was-to-make-money-for-the-bank-you-lose-track-of-the-amounts/) [Jerome Kerviel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-kerviel/) > [Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atifete-jahjaga/democracy-must-be-built-through-open-societies-that-share-information/) [Atifete Jahjaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atifete-jahjaga/) > [As you fight corruption, it fights back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yemi-osinbajo/as-you-fight-corruption-it-fights-back/) [Yemi Osinbajo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yemi-osinbajo/) > [Selfishness is one of the principal fruits of the corruption of human nature; and it is obvious that selfishness disposes us to over-rate our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wilberforce/selfishness-is-one-of-the-principal-fruits-of-the-corruption-of-human/) [William Wilberforce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wilberforce/) > [ Corruption could lead to the collapse of the Party \[Communist Party of China\] and the downfall of the state \[People's Republic of China\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xi-jinping/corruption-could-lead-to-the-collapse-of-the-party-communist-party-of/) [Xi Jinping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xi-jinping/) > [“Oh where is the noble face of modesty, or the strength of virtue, now that blasphemy is in power and men have put justice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/oh-where-is-the-noble-face-of-modesty-or-the-strength-of-virtue-now/) [Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/) > [I can say across Europe that many principles that have been taken for granted here around free speech, and around civil liberties and an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-can-say-across-europe-that-many-principles-that-have-been-taken-for/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The victory of Hamas is not only based on the corruption of the Palestinian Authority. Hamas has a vision and a program, and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ismail-haniyeh/the-victory-of-hamas-is-not-only-based-on-the-corruption-of-the/) [Ismail Haniyeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ismail-haniyeh/) > [It looked incredibly credible!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-horlick/it-looked-incredibly-credible/) Nicola Horlick > [All power corrupts but some must govern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/all-power-corrupts-but-some-must-govern/) [John le Carre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) [Browse all 2,253 Corruption quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corruption/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When you are looking for corruption, you should look at the entire stratum of the society, while some forms of corruption are direct, others are indirect.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wole Soyinka" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/when-you-are-looking-for-corruption-you-should-look-at-the-entire/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Corruption" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/when-you-are-looking-for-corruption-you-should-look-at-the-entire/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/wole-soyinka-1587_corruption_when-you-are-looking-for-corruption-you_1953222.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/wole-soyinka-1587_corruption_when-you-are-looking-for-corruption-you_1953222.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/wole-soyinka-1587_corruption_when-you-are-looking-for-corruption-you_1953222.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When you are looking for corruption, you should look at the entire stratum of the society, while some forms…” — Wole Soyinka", "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": "Wole Soyinka", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When you are looking for corruption,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/when-you-are-looking-for-corruption-you-should-look-at-the-entire/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/when-you-are-looking-for-corruption-you-should-look-at-the-entire/#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 } } ] } ```