Lord Acton Quotes - Page 3

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

  Lord Acton

  Memories, Illumination, Soul

  38 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

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

  Lord Acton

  Men, Water, Lows

  4 Copy quote

• 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.

  62 Copy quote

• Liberty has not only enemies which it conquers, but perfidious friends, who rob the fruits of its victories: Absolute democracy, socialism.

  Lord Acton

  Enemy, Victory, Democracy

  26 Copy quote

• Progress, the religion of those who have none.

  Lord Acton

  Progress

  12 Copy quote

• Far from being the product of a democratic revolution and of an opposition to English institutions, the constitution of the United States was the result of a powerful reaction against democracy, and in favor of the traditions of the mother country.

  Lord Acton

  Mother, Country, Powerful

  8 Copy quote

• The test of liberty is the position and security of minorities.

  Lord Acton

  Liberty, Minorities, Tests

  10 Copy quote

• 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

  33 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

  12 Copy quote

• History provides neither compensation for suffering nor penalties for wrong.

  Lord Acton

  History, Suffering, Penalties

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

  10 Copy quote

• At all times sincere friends of freedom have been rare, and its triumphs have been due to minorities, that have prevailed by associating themselves with auxiliaries whose objects often differed from their own; and this association, which is always dangerous, has sometimes been disastrous.

  Lord Acton

  Triumph, Minorities, Association

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

  20 Copy quote

• Liberty, next to religion has been the motive of good deeds and the common pretext of crime.

  Lord Acton

  Liberty, Deeds, Next

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

  9 Copy quote

• We are not sure we are right until we have made the best case possible for those who are wrong.

  Lord Acton

  Made, Cases, Not Sure

  5 Copy quote

• It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority. For there is a reserve of latent power in the masses which, if it is called into play, the minority can seldom resist. But from the absolute will of an entire people there is no appeal, no redemption, no refuge but treason.

  Lord Acton

  Play, People, Minorities

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom (and other Essays)”, p.36, Jazzybee Verlag

  16 Copy quote

• Be not content with the best book; seek sidelights from the others; have no favourites.

  Lord Acton

  Book, Delight

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

  10 Copy quote

• The principle of the Inquisition was murderous. . . . The popes were not only murderers in the great style, but they also made murder a legal basis of the Christian Church and a condition of salvation.

  Lord Acton

  Christian, Style, Religion

  11 Copy quote

• The mills of God grind slowly.

  Lord Acton

  Grind, Retribution, Exactness

  28 Copy quote

• For centuries it was never discovered that education was a function of the State, and the State never attempted to educate. But when modern absolutism arose, it laid claim to everything on behalf of the sovereign power....When the revolutionary theory of government began to prevail, and Church and State found that they were educating for opposite ends and in a contradictory spirit, it became necessary to remove children entirely from the influence of religion.

  Lord Acton

  Children, Government, Opposites

  5 Copy quote

• The true natural check on absolute democracy is the federal system, which limits the central government by the powers reserved, and the state governments by the powers they have ceded.

  Lord Acton

  Government, Democracy, Limits

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (2016). “Lectures on the French Revolution”, p.33, Jazzybee Verlag

  4 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

• Learn as much by writing as by reading.

  Lord Acton

  Spiritual, Reading, Writing

  "Lectures on Modern History". Book by John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, sourcebooks.fordham.edu. 1906.

  11 Copy quote

• A public man has no right to let his actions be determined by particular interests. He does the same thing as a judge who accepts a bribe. Like a judge he must consider what is right, not what is advantageous to a party or class.

  Lord Acton

  Party, Men, Class

  5 Copy quote

• Monarchy hardens into despotism. Aristocracy contracts into oligarchy. Democracy expands into the supremacy of numbers.

  Lord Acton

  Numbers, Democracy, Aristocracy

  John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom (and other Essays)”, p.42, Jazzybee Verlag

  4 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

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