Lord Acton Quotes - Page 2

Quotes about:

• 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

  11 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

  9 Copy quote

• Government rules the present. Literature rules the future.

  Lord Acton

  Government, Literature

  6 Copy quote

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

  Lord Acton

  People, Unjust

  14 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

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

  Lord Acton

  Execution, Socialism, Accepting

  16 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.

  12 Copy quote

• The common vice of democracy is disregard for morality.

  Lord Acton

  Democracy, Vices, Morality

  14 Copy quote

• Judge talent at its best and character at its worst.

  Lord Acton

  Character, Judging, Talent

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

  15 Copy quote

• 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

• 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

• 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.

  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

• 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

  8 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

  77 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

• 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.

  65 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

• 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.

  30 Copy quote

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

  Lord Acton

  Memories, Illumination, Soul

  38 Copy quote

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

  Lord Acton

  Men, Water, Lows

  4 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

  85 Copy quote

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