There nothing so sacred that money cannot corrupt it, and nothing so well defended that money cannot over throw it.
[Nihil esse tam sanctum quod non violari, nihil tam munitum quod non expugnari pecunia possit.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
In Verrem [Against Verres; Verrine Orations], Action 1, ch. 2 / sec. 4 (1.2.4) (70 BC) [tr. Berry (2006)]
(Source)
Boast by Caius Verres (or so Cicero alleges).
Various translations vary as to whether this is 1.2.4 (which I have chosen) or 1.1.4 (as noted).
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Nothing is so holy that it cannot be corrupted, or so strongly fortified that it cannot be stormed by money.
[tr. Yonge (1903), 1.1.4]No sanctuary is too holy for money to defile it, no fortress too strong for money to capture it.
[tr. Greenwood (1928)]Nothing, he declares, is too sacred to be corrupted by money; nothing too strong to resist its attack.
[tr. Grant (1960)]There is nothing so sacred that it cannot be sullied, nor anything so protected that it cannot be overcome by money.
[tr. @sententiq (2017), 1.1.4]There is no sanctuary so holy that money cannot profane it, no fortress so strong that money cannot take it by storm.
[Source]
