Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely Quotes

• 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

  Show source

• 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

  Show source
• 

  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

  Show source

• 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

  Show source

• 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

  Show source

• 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

  Show source

• 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

  Show source

• 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

  Show source

• Power doesn't always corrupt. Power can cleanse. What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals.

  Robert Caro

  Believe, Corrupt Power, Power Corrupts

  "Robert Caro: a life with LBJ and the pursuit of power" by Chris McGreal, www.theguardian.com. June 10, 2012.

  17 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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

  Show source

• Absolute power corrupts absolutely; and if you surrender your personal responsibility to a government which promises to take care of you, they will only take care of themselves.

  Howard Nemerov

  Responsibility, Government, Promise

  12 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

  Show source

• Power corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat.

  John Lehman

  Power, Confusion, Political

  7 Copy quote

• If absolute power corrupts absolutely, does absolute powerlessness make you pure?

  Harry Shearer

  Power, Political, Doe

  Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

  70 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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

  Show source

• Absolute power does not corrupt absolutely, absolute power attracts the corruptible.

  Frank Herbert

  Power, Political, Doe

  26 Copy quote

• Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it.

  William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham

  Government, Political, Mind

  William Pitt (1st earl of Chatham.) (1839). “Correspondence, ed. by [W.S. Taylor and J.H. Pringle] the executors of his son John, earl of Chatham”, p.387

  14 Copy quote

  Show source

• It has been said that absolute power corrupts absolutely, but many it not be truer to say that to be absolutely powerful a man must first corrupt himself?

  Terence Rattigan

  Powerful, Men, Firsts

  9 Copy quote

• It's very hard to operate on a general philosophy of power. They say that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, but I don't agree with that. I think you have to be corrupted to be corrupted by power.

  Mark Pellegrino

  Philosophy, Thinking, Power Corrupts

  Source: collider.com

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• You know, 'power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely'? It's the same with powerlessness. Absolute powerlessness corrupts absolutely. Einstein said everything had changed since the atom was split, except the way we think. We have to think anew.

  Studs Terkel

  Thinking, Atoms, Splits

  "Voice of America". Interview with Oliver Burkeman, www.theguardian.com. March 1, 2002.

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• We're taught Lord Acton's axiom: all power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. I believed that when I started these books, but I don't believe it's always true any more. Power doesn't always corrupt. Power can cleanse. What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals.

  Robert Caro

  Believe, Book, Taught

  "Robert Caro: a life with LBJ and the pursuit of power". Interview with Chris McGreal, www.theguardian.com. June 9, 2012.

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end...liberty is the only object which benefits all alike, and provokes no sincere opposition...The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. ~ Every class is unfit to govern ... Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.

  Lord Acton

  Mean, Men, Class

  "The History of Freedom in Antiquity". Book by John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1907.

  13 Copy quote

  Show source

• If absolute power corrupts absolutely, where does that leave God??

  George Deacon

  Funny, Badass, Humor

  46 Copy quote

• The mistakes (of leaders) are amplified by the numbers who follow them without question. Charismatic leaders tend to build up followings, power structures and these power structures tend to be taken over by people who are corruptible. I don't think that the old saw about 'power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely' is accurate: I think power attracts the corruptible.

  Frank Herbert

  Mistake, Taken, Thinking

  14 Copy quote

• There is no evidence to support the belief that Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev ever questioned Americas power. He questioned only the President's John F. Kennedys readiness to use it. Elie Abel, The Missile Crisis (1966) Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

  Lord Acton

  Power, Support, President

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

  4 Copy quote

  Show source