Literary notes about corruption (AI summary)
The term “corruption” appears in literature with a breadth of meanings, ranging from moral degradation to physical decay and even textual alteration. In many works, it connotes a decline in ethical standards or the erosion of inherent virtue—as seen in examinations of moral decay in philosophical and societal contexts ([1], [2], [3], [4]). At the same time, authors have used it to describe natural deterioration, whether the inevitable decay of the human body ([5], [6], [7]) or the defilement of nature’s inherent order ([8], [9]). In other instances, “corruption” takes on a technical meaning, referring to alterations in language or texts that distort original forms ([10], [11], [12]); and even extends to geographical misnomers as a result of linguistic transformation ([13], [14]). Thus, across genres and eras, “corruption” serves as a multifaceted metaphor reflecting the complex interplay between purity and decay.
- To my mind it is the greatest of all conceivable corruptions, it has had the will to the last imaginable corruption.
— from The Twilight of the Idols; or, How to Philosophize with the Hammer. The Antichrist by Nietzsche - The means of corruption, wretchedness, and misery.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens - For corruption injures, but unless it diminished goodness, it could not injure.
— from The Confessions of St. Augustine by Bishop of Hippo Saint Augustine - Who, therefore, is responsible for the 'corruption of man'?
— from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book I and II by Nietzsche - I became acquainted with the science of anatomy: but this was not sufficient; I must also observe the natural decay and corruption of the human body.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - I became acquainted with the science of anatomy, but this was not sufficient; I must also observe the natural decay and corruption of the human body.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - I became acquainted with the science of anatomy: but this was not sufficient; I must also observe the natural decay and corruption of the human body.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - For the soul is intelligence and deity, the body dust and corruption.
— from The Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus by Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius - The fruits of the earth have their growth in corruption.
— from American Notes by Charles Dickens - I submit my own rendering without much enthusiasm, being convinced that there is some deep-seated corruption in the text.
— from The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi - [411] Bargosa is probably a corruption of Barygaza mentioned in Arrian’s Periplus of the Red Sea.
— from The Geography of Strabo, Volume 3 (of 3) by Strabo - The arrangement, moreover, is so awkward that I cannot help suspecting some corruption in the text.
— from The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi - The name of the stream and gap is a corruption of the Cherokee Suwa′lĭ-Nûñnâ′hĭ, “Suwa′li trail.”
— from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney - Ke′sĭ-ka′gămû—a woman’s name, a Cherokee corruption of Cassie Cockram; ka′gămû is also the Cherokee corruption for “cucumber.”
— from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney
