“A thunderous boo is one thousand times stronger, nobler, and more powerful than a standing ovation. Admiration corrupts.”

1840s, Heroes and Hero-Worship (1840), The Hero as Divinity
Context: No nobler feeling than this of admiration for one higher than himself dwells in the breast of man. It is to this hour, and at all hours, the vivifying influence in man's life.

Source: The Postman (1985), Section 3, “Cincinnatus”, Chapter 14 (p. 267)
Variant: It is said that power corrupts, but actually it’s more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.
As quoted in Values of the Wise: Humanity's Highest Aspirations (2004) by Jason Merchey, p. 120
This is very similar to the expression by Frank Herbert in Chapterhouse: Dune (1985): "All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."
Context: It’s said that “power corrupts,” but actually it’s more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. When they do act, they think of it as service, which has limits. The tyrant, though, seeks mastery, for which he is insatiable, implacable.

Source: Shine

Elmer Gantry (1927)

After being asked if he ever gets stage fright
Interview during the 1977 Australian tour, included in "ABBA: The Movie"

Source: Fanshawe

[Robert Fisk: Freedom, democracy and human rights in Syria, Robert Fisk, THE INDEPENDENT, 16 September 2010, http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-freedom-democracy-and-human-rights-in-syria-2080463.html]

31
Essays, Can Poetry Matter? (1991), The Catholic Writer Today (2013)

As quoted in Midnight by Dean Koontz
The Story of Civilization (1935–1975), XI - The Age of Napoleon (1975)