John T. Noonan Jr.

"The core of the concept of a bribe is an inducement improperly influencing the performance of a public function meant to be gratuitously exercised."

"In ancient Israel and Rome the judge had appeared as a stand-in for the divine, and corruption was a blinding of the representative of the divine."

"Morals are concerned with what aids or impedes the fulfillment of basic human needs."