Lord Acton Quotes

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

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.

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.

Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.

The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities.

Socialism means slavery.

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

The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern: every class is unfit to govern.

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.

It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority.

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

Feudalism made land the measure and the master of all things.

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

I saw in States' rights the only availing check upon the absolutism of the sovereign will, and secession filled me with hope, not as the destruction but as the redemption of Democracy.... Therefore I deemed that you were fighting the battles of our liberty, our progress, and our civilization, and I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo.

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

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

Great men are almost always bad men.

There is not a soul who does not have to beg alms of another, either a smile, a handshake, or a fond eye.

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

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

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

The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority.

There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men.

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.

The possession of unlimited power corrodes the conscience, hardens the heart, and confounds the understanding.

The mills of God grind slowly.

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

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.

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

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.

Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.

No public character has ever stood the revelation of private utterance and correspondence.

Official truth is not actual truth.

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.

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.

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

I'm not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.

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.

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.

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

Judge talent at its best and character at its worst.

Property is not the sacred right. When a rich man becomes poor it is a misfortune, it is not a moral evil. When a poor man becomes destitute, it is a moral evil, teeming with consequences and injurious to society and morality.

Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority...

The strong man with the dagger is followed by the weak man with the sponge.

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

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.

Learn as much by writing as by reading.

Fanaticism in religion is the alliance of the passions she condemns with the dogmas she professes.

Moral precepts are constant through the ages and not obedient to circumstances.

The common vice of democracy is disregard for morality.