Lord Acton Quotes

Quotes about:

• And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that.

  Lord Acton

  Peace, Men, Hands

  33 Copy quote

• Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.

  Lord Acton

  Exercise, Men, Influence And Power

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

  16 Copy quote

• The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.

  Lord Acton

  Issues, People, Political

  56 Copy quote

• Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right of being able to do what we ought.

  Lord Acton

  Justice, Diversity, Challenges

  24 Copy quote
• 

  Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

  Lord Acton

  Inspirational, Leadership, Work

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

  133 Copy quote

• The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections.

  Lord Acton

  Party, Democracies Have, Majority Rule

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

  93 Copy quote

• Official truth is not actual truth.

  Lord Acton

  Truth Is, Officials

  19 Copy quote

• If the past has been an obstacle and a burden, knowledge of the past is the safest and the surest emancipation.

  Lord Acton

  Past, History, Obstacles

  Lord Acton (2016). “Lectures on Modern History: Great Event”, p.4, VM eBooks

  31 Copy quote

• Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.

  Lord Acton

  Liberty, Doe, Authority

  "Essays in the History of Liberty: Selected Writings of Lord Acton, 3 vols". Book by John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1985-1988.

  47 Copy quote

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

  Lord Acton

  Men, Water, Lows

  4 Copy quote

• Socialism means slavery.

  Lord Acton

  Mean, Eugenics, Political

  67 Copy quote

• Men cannot be made good by the state, but they can easily be made bad. Morality depends on liberty.

  Lord Acton

  Men, Liberty, Morality

  58 Copy quote

• A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.

  Lord Acton

  Success, Wise, Time

  56 Copy quote

• Guard against the prestige of great names; see that your judgments are your own; and do not shrink from disagreement; no trusting without testing

  Lord Acton

  Trust, Names, Judgement

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

  13 Copy quote

• Limitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited.

  Lord Acton

  Government, Political, Essentials

  36 Copy quote

• There are many things the government cant do, many good purposes it must renounce. It must leave them to the enterprise of others. It cannot feed the people. It cannot enrich the people. It cannot teach the people. It cannot convert the people.

  Lord Acton

  Government, People, Purpose

  7 Copy quote

• Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.

  Lord Acton

  Morality, Corruption

  10 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

• The man who prefers his country before any other duty shows the same spirit as the man who surrenders every right to the state. They both deny that right is superior to authority.

  Lord Acton

  Country, Men, Ethos

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom (and other Essays)”, p.276, Jazzybee Verlag

  8 Copy quote

• The finest opportunity ever given to the world was thrown away because the passion of equality made vain the hope for freedom.

  Lord Acton

  Freedom, Passion, Opportunity

  10 Copy quote

• It is easier to find people fit to govern themselves than people fit to govern others.

  Lord Acton

  People, Fit, Easier

  55 Copy quote

• There are two things which cannot be attacked in front: ignorance and narrow-mindedness. They can only be shaken by the simple development of the contrary qualities. They will not bear discussion.

  Lord Acton

  Ignorance, Simple, Two

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

  15 Copy quote

• The true guide of our conduct is no outward authority, but the voice of God, who comes down to dwell in our souls, who knows all our thoughts, to whom are owing all the truth we know, and all the good we do; for vice is voluntary, and virtue comes from the grace of the heavenly spirit within.

  Lord Acton

  God, Voice, Grace

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

  21 Copy quote

• The will of the people cannot make just that which is unjust.

  Lord Acton

  People, Unjust

  14 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

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