Corporations — No Soul to Damn, No Body to Kick – Economic Sociology & Political Economy

Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow (1731-1806), a renowned lawyer and then politician who served under four Prime Ministers as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain for fourteen years, has made an astute observation that still meaningfully resonates today:

“Did you ever expect a corporation to have a conscience, when it has no soul to be damned, and no body to be kicked?”
– quoted in: Alison, Archibald. 1852. History of Europe: From the Fall of Napoleon in 1815 to the Accession of Louis Napoleon in 1852 (Vol. 1). Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons. (p. 56)

Another version of his saying reads as follows:
“Corporations have neither bodies to be punished, nor souls to be condemned, they therefore do as they like.”
– quoted in: Poynder, John. 1844. Literary Extracts from English and Other Works (Vol. 1). London: John Hatchard & Son. (p. 268)