Lord Acton Quotes - Page 2

Quotes about:

• Democracy generally monopolizes and concentrates power.

  Lord Acton

  Democracy

  6 Copy quote

• When you perceive a truth, look for the balancing truth.

  Lord Acton

  Looks, Perceive

  6 Copy quote

• Those who have more power are liable to sin more; no theorem in geometry is more certain than this.

  Lord Acton

  Atheism, Sin, Liable

  7 Copy quote

• There is not a more perilous or immoral habit of mind than the sanctifying of success.

  Lord Acton

  Political, Mind, Politics

  Lord Acton (1961). “Lectures on Modern History”

  8 Copy quote

• Federalism is the best curb on democracy. [It] assigns limited powers to the central government. Thereby all power is limited. It excludes absolute power of the majority.

  Lord Acton

  Government, Democracy, Majority

  84 Copy quote

• The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern: every class is unfit to govern.

  Lord Acton

  Rights, Government, Class

  "Letters of Lord Acton to Mary Gladstone". Book by John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1913.

  63 Copy quote

• A generous spirit prefers that his country should be poor, and weak, and of no account, but free, rather than powerful, prosperous, and enslaved.

  Lord Acton

  Country, Powerful, Generous Spirit

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom (and other Essays)”, p.45, Jazzybee Verlag

  9 Copy quote

• Liberty is the prevention of control by others.

  Lord Acton

  Liberty, Prevention

  "Faith in Freedom: Libertarian Principles and Psychiatric Practices". Book by Thomas Stephen Szasz, 2004.

  7 Copy quote

• Great men are almost always bad men.

  Lord Acton

  Men, Corrupt Power, Power Corrupts

  1887 Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 3 Apr.

  48 Copy quote

• It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority.

  Lord Acton

  Freedom, Equality, Democracies Have

  Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom: Great Event”, p.9, VM eBooks

  55 Copy quote

• There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it.

  Lord Acton

  Office, Political, Corrupt Power

  1887 Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 3 Apr.

  8 Copy quote

• History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul.

  Lord Acton

  Memories, Illumination, Soul

  38 Copy quote

• Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.

  Lord Acton

  Wisdom, Freedom, Mean

  Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom: Great Event”, p.19, VM eBooks

  74 Copy quote

• The possession of unlimited power corrodes the conscience, hardens the heart, and confounds the understanding.

  Lord Acton

  Heart, Understanding, Atheism

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom (and other Essays)”, p.36, Jazzybee Verlag

  30 Copy quote

• The test of liberty is the position and security of minorities.

  Lord Acton

  Liberty, Minorities, Tests

  10 Copy quote

• A man can be trusted only up to low-water mark.

  Lord Acton

  Men, Water, Lows

  4 Copy quote

• If some great catastrophe is not announced every morning, we feel a certain void. Nothing in the paper today, we sigh.

  Lord Acton

  Morning, Anxiety, Paper

  9 Copy quote

• History provides neither compensation for suffering nor penalties for wrong.

  Lord Acton

  History, Suffering, Penalties

  "Historical Essays and Studies". Book by John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, oll.libertyfund.org. 1907.

  9 Copy quote

• The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority.

  Lord Acton

  Democracies Have, Majority Rule, Evil

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom (and other Essays)”, p.103, Jazzybee Verlag

  30 Copy quote

• I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favorable presumption that they do no wrong. If there is any presumption, it is the other way against holders of power...power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

  Lord Acton

  Kings, Power, Men

  Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 3 April 1887, in Louise Creighton 'Life and Letters of Mandell Creighton' (1904) vol. 1, ch. 13.

  59 Copy quote

• There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men.

  Lord Acton

  Men, Errors, Failing

  "Letters of Lord Acton to Mary Gladstone". Book by John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1913.

  29 Copy quote

• Socialism easily accepts despotism. It requires the strongest execution of power -- power sufficient to interfere with property.

  Lord Acton

  Execution, Socialism, Accepting

  15 Copy quote

• The common vice of democracy is disregard for morality.

  Lord Acton

  Democracy, Vices, Morality

  11 Copy quote

• Political differences essentially depend on disagreement in moral principles.

  Lord Acton

  Political Differences, Principles, Moral

  5 Copy quote

• The passion for power over others can never cease to threaten mankind, and is always sure of finding new and unforseen allies in continuing its martyrology.

  Lord Acton

  Passion, Allies, Mankind

  Lord Acton (2016). “Lectures on Modern History: Great Event”, p.27, VM eBooks

  7 Copy quote

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