All Englishmen are virtuous when they are dead.
 George Orwell, Burmese Days (1934). copy citation

add
Author George Orwell
Source Burmese Days
Topic Englishman
Date 1934
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200051.txt

Context

“It was lucky that the padre should have been at Kyauktada, for he was able, before catching the train on the following evening, to read the burial service in due form and even to deliver a short address on the virtues of the dead man. All Englishmen are virtuous when they are dead. 'Accidental death' was the official verdict (Dr Veraswami had proved with all his medico-legal skill that the circumstances pointed to accident) and it was duly inscribed upon the tombstone. Not that anyone believed it, of course.” source