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Lord Acton

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Famous Lord Acton Quotes

“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.”

MenStillsGovernmentInfluenceExerciseAuthorityAbsolutesCorruptionTendenciesCertaintyGreat MenBad ManAbsolute PowerPower CorruptsCorrupt GovernmentCorrupt PowerPower And CorruptionPower CorruptionPower ManAbsolute Power Corrupts AbsolutelyAuthority And PowerInfluence And Power
Author:Lord Acton
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“Whenever a single definite object is made the supreme end of the State, be it the advantage of a class, the safety of the power of the country, the greatest happiness of the greatest number, or the support of any speculative idea, the State becomes for the time inevitably absolute. Liberty alone demands for its realization the limitation of the public authority, for liberty is the only object which benefits all alike, and provokes no sincere opposition.”

MadeIdeasEndsCountryStatesGovernmentNumbersLibertyClassSupportObjectsDemandAuthorityBenefitsAdvantageAbsolutesSafetySupremeRealizationLimitationOppositionSincereProvokingDefinite
Book:The History of Freedom: Great Event
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“Before God, there is neither Greek nor barbarian, neither rich nor poor, and the slave is as good as his master, for by birth all men are free; they are citizens of the universal commonwealth which embraces all the world, brethren of one family, and children of God.”

MenWorldChildrenPoorExistenceRichMastersBirthCitizensUniversalEmbraceSlaveGreekHuman ExistenceChild Of GodBarbariansBrethrenCommonwealth
Book:The History of Freedom (and other Essays)
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“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.”

MenMeanEndsPoliticalLibertyClassDangerObjectsParticularHigherBenefitsHighestAbsolutesGreat MenOppositionSincereProvokingBad ManAbsolute PowerPower CorruptsAbsolute Power Corrupts Absolutely
Author:Lord Acton
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“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.”

PeopleIfsPlayMassAbsolutesMajorityRedemptionAppealsMinoritiesReservesRefugeOppressedTreasonLatent
Book:The History of Freedom (and other Essays)
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“Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. It is not for the sake of a good public administration that it is required, but for the security in the pursuit of the highest objects of civil society, and of private life.”

MeanEndsPoliticalLibertySecurityObjectsHigherHighestSakePursuitAdministrationPrivate LifeCivil Society
Book:The History of Freedom (and other Essays)
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“In every age its (liberty's) progress has been beset by its natural enemies, by ignorance and superstition, by lust of conquest and by love of ease, by the strong man's craving for power, and the poor man's craving for food”

MenHas BeensWisdomAgePoliticsStrongNaturalPoorLibertyEnemyEconomyProgressIgnoranceLustEaseLiberalismSuperstitionsConquestCravingPoor ManStrong ManNatural Enemies
Book:The History of Freedom (and other Essays)
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“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.”

Has BeensSometimesDangerousObjectsDuesAll TimeTriumphMinoritiesSincereAssociationSincere Friends
Book:The History of Freedom (and other Essays)
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