Meaning:

People in power are often corrupt, and the more power they have the more corrupt they are.

Background:

The earliest recorded source of this expression I could find was in a speach by the British Prime Minister, William Pitt who in 1770 said 'Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the mind of those who possess it'

A century later in 1887, Lord Acton stated 'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.'

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