Lord Acton Quotes

Quotes about:

• 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.

  13 Copy quote

• 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

  31 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.

  130 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

  92 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

  54 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

  22 Copy quote

• Official truth is not actual truth.

  Lord Acton

  Truth Is, Officials

  17 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.

  46 Copy quote

• Socialism means slavery.

  Lord Acton

  Mean, Eugenics, Political

  65 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

  51 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

  57 Copy quote

• Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.

  Lord Acton

  Morality, Corruption

  9 Copy quote

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

  Lord Acton

  Government, Political, Essentials

  34 Copy quote

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

  Lord Acton

  People, Fit, Easier

  54 Copy quote

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

  Lord Acton

  Looks, Perceive

  5 Copy quote

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

  Lord Acton

  Memories, Illumination, Soul

  34 Copy quote

• Progress, the religion of those who have none.

  Lord Acton

  Progress

  10 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

  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

  81 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.

  14 Copy quote

• The common vice of democracy is disregard for morality.

  Lord Acton

  Democracy, Vices, Morality

  10 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

  54 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

  29 Copy quote

• Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral law is written on the tablets of eternity.

  Lord Acton

  Fall, Law, Tables

  Inaugural Lecture on the Study of History, 1906, sourcebooks.fordham.edu. June 11, 1895.

  9 Copy quote

• Liberty is the prevention of control by others. This requires self-control and, therefore, religious and spiritual influences; education, knowledge, well-being.

  Lord Acton

  Spiritual, Wisdom, Religious

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

  7 Copy quote

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