Lord Acton Quotes - Page 4

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• Writers the most learned, the most accurate in details, and the soundest in tendency, frequently fall into a habit which can neither be cured nor pardoned,-the habit of making history into the proof of their theories.

  Lord Acton

  Fall, Writing, Learning

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom (and other Essays)”, p.231, Jazzybee Verlag

  4 Copy quote

• Before God, there is neither Greek nor barbarian, neither rich nor poor, and the slave is as good as his master, for by birth all men are free; they are citizens of the universal commonwealth which embraces all the world, brethren of one family, and children of God.

  Lord Acton

  Children, Men, Greek

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom (and other Essays)”, p.46, Jazzybee Verlag

  5 Copy quote

• A liberal is only a bundle of prejudices until he has mastered, has understood, experienced the philosophy of Conservatism.

  Lord Acton

  Philosophy, Prejudice, Bundles

  9 Copy quote

• History, to be above evasion or dispute, must stand on documents, not on opinions.

  Lord Acton

  History, Opinion, Disputes

  Lord Acton (2016). “Lectures on Modern History: Great Event”, p.16, VM eBooks

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• Fanaticism in religion is the alliance of the passions she condemns with the dogmas she professes.

  Lord Acton

  Passion, Alliances, Dogma

  11 Copy quote

• That great political idea, sanctifying freedom and consecrating it to God, teaching men to treasure the liberties of others as their own and to defend them for the love of justice and charity more than as a claim of right, has been the soul of what is great and good in the progress of the last two hundred years.

  Lord Acton

  Teaching, Men, Years

  Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom: Great Event”, p.47, VM eBooks

  4 Copy quote

• The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities.

  Lord Acton

  Country, Freedom, Equality

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom (and other Essays)”, p.30, Jazzybee Verlag

  71 Copy quote

• Moral precepts are constant through the ages and not obedient to circumstances.

  Lord Acton

  Age, Moral, Circumstances

  11 Copy quote

• When the last of the Reformers died, religion, instead of emancipating the nations, had become an excuse for the criminal art of despots. Calvin preached, and Bellarmine lectured; but Machiavelli reigned.

  Lord Acton

  Art, Criminals, Lasts

  Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom: Great Event”, p.39, VM eBooks

  4 Copy quote

• Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.

  Lord Acton

  Reality, Justice, Political

  "Lord Acton and his Circle". Book by Abbot Gasquet, 1906.

  19 Copy quote

• By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes to be his duty against the influences of authority and majorities, custom and opinion.

  Lord Acton

  Believe, Mean, Men

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom (and other Essays)”, p.30, Jazzybee Verlag

  11 Copy quote

• A government does not desire its powers to be strictly defined, but the subjects require the line to be drawn with increasing precision.

  Lord Acton

  Government, Desire, Doe

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom (and other Essays)”, p.420, Jazzybee Verlag

  7 Copy quote

• The idea that the object of constitutions is not to confirm the predominance of any interest, but to prevent it; to preserve with equal care the independence of labour and the security of property; to make the rich safe against envy, and the poor against oppression, marks the highest level attained by the statesmanship of Greece.

  Lord Acton

  Ideas, Envy, Independence

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom (and other Essays)”, p.35, Jazzybee Verlag

  5 Copy quote

• The strong man with the dagger is followed by the weak man with the sponge.

  Lord Acton

  Strong, Men, Weak Man

  12 Copy quote

• No public character has ever stood the revelation of private utterance and correspondence.

  Lord Acton

  Character, Utterance, Revelations

  Lord Acton (2016). “Historical Essays and Studies: Great Event”, p.449, VM eBooks

  18 Copy quote

• Every class is unfit to govern.

  Lord Acton

  Class

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

  7 Copy quote

• Ink was not invented to express our real feelings.

  Lord Acton

  Real, Feelings, Ink

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• Many things are better for silence than for speech: others are better for speech than for stationery.

  Lord Acton

  Silence, Speech, Stationery

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• The law of liberty tends to abolish the reign of race over race, of faith over faith, of class over class. It is not the realisation of a political ideal: it is the discharge of a moral obligation.

  Lord Acton

  Race, Law, Class

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

  4 Copy quote

• The history of institutions is often a history of deception and illusions; for their virtue depends on the ideas that produce and on the spirit that preserves them, and the form may remain unaltered when the substance has passed away.

  Lord Acton

  Ideas, Deception, Substance

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom (and other Essays)”, p.28, Jazzybee Verlag

  4 Copy quote

• I exhort you never to debase the moral currency or to lower the standard of rectitude, but to try others by the final maxim that governs your own lives, and to suffer no man and no cause to escape the undying penalty which history has the power to inflict on wrong.

  Lord Acton

  Men, Suffering, Trying

  Lord Acton (2016). “Lectures on Modern History: Great Event”, p.22, VM eBooks

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• Absolute power demoralizes.

  Lord Acton

  Absolute Power, Absolutes

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• Everybody likes to get as much power as circumstances allow, and nobody will vote for a self-denying ordinance.

  Lord Acton

  Self, Likes, Vote

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• Character is tested by true sentiments more than by conduct. A man is seldom better than his word.

  Lord Acton

  Character, Men, Personality

  Lord Acton (2016). “Historical Essays and Studies: Great Event”, p.449, VM eBooks

  5 Copy quote

• Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority...

  Lord Acton

  Exercise, Men, Influence And Power

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

  12 Copy quote

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