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… is from page 117 of H.L. Mencken’s, A Second Mencken Chrestomathy [2] (1995):
And who ever heard of an American politician who wasn’t ready to sacrifice his honor in order to get public office?
DBx: Of course, there have been throughout history a few such people; but precisely because political elections reward, not virtue and principle, but deceit and demagoguery, far too few virtuous and principled people survive in politics to be noticed. Overwhelmingly, those who succeed in politics are power-mad charlatans and opportunists.
(Mencken [3] was born 138 years ago today in Baltimore.)