“Corruption isn’t born in a parliament hall or a corporate boardroom — it’s born in the human mind, long before the opportunity arrives.”

“It’s not always the big disasters that set us off — sometimes it’s the tiny spark that lights the fuse.”

“Some people make us stand a little straighter, speak a little softer — and others make us want to repay them, even if they never asked.”

“It wasn’t pain that bothered me — it was the feeling that my own body had its own agenda.”

“It’s like meeting someone who speaks your dialect of the soul.”

“Line up. Stand straight. Recite the pledge. Memorise the chapter. Test next week. Repeat.”

“To one person, it’s a masterpiece. To another, it’s just a weird squiggle on canvas.”

“Just when you think you’re at the top, you look up — and realise there’s still more above you.”