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Lord Acton

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Famous Lord Acton Quotes

“Neither an enlightened philosophy, nor all the political wisdom of Rome, nor even the faith and virtue of the Christians availed against the incorrigible tradition of antiquity. Something was wanted, beyond all the gifts of reflection and experience - a faculty of self government and self control, developed like its language in the fibre of a nation, and growing with its growth.”

SelfPhilosophyGovernmentWantedChristianPoliticalLanguageNationsGrowthVirtueGrowingReflectionTraditionEnlightenedFacultyRomeSelf ControlAntiquitySelf-governmentIncorrigiblePolitical Wisdom
Author:Lord Acton
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“The epoch of doubt and transition during which the Greeks passed from the dim fancies of mythology to the fierce light of science was the age of Pericles, and the endeavour to substitute certain truth for the prescriptions of impaired authorities, which was then beginning to absorb the energies of the Greek intellect, is the grandest movement in the profane annals of mankind, for to it we owe, even after the immeasurable progress accomplished by Christianity, much of our philosophy and far the better part of the political knowledge we possess.”

PhilosophyLightAgePoliticalCertainEnergyChristianityDoubtProgressMankindMovementAuthorityIntellectMythologyGreekFancyAccomplishedSubstitutesTransitionFiercePrescriptionsEndeavourEpochProfane
Book:The History of Freedom: Great Event
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“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

InspirationalPoliticalPoliticsLeadershipWorkLibertyLordPowerRightsPoliticianMoralityAuthorityAbsolutesCorruptionLibertarianLiberalismTyrantsFree MarketConservatismCarpe DiemFreedom And LibertyDespotismFreedom LibertyProperty RightsGreat PowerLimited GovernmentPresumptionAbuse Of PowerFree GovernmentLimiting GovernmentAbsolute PowerPower CorruptsLimited FreedomEternal VigilanceAbsolutismGovernment And SocietyToo Much PowerCorrupt GovernmentGovernment TyrannyPower GovernmentCorrupt PowerPower And CorruptionPower CorruptionAbsolute Power Corrupts AbsolutelyAuthority And Power
Author:Lord Acton
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“Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.”

MeanEndsWisdomPoliticalPoliticsFreedomLibertyHigherPoliticianHighestCapitalismLibertarianFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyPrivate PropertyProperty RightsLimited GovernmentFree GovernmentLibertarian PartyAbsolute PowerPolitical FreedomRoad To SerfdomAbsolute Power Corrupts Absolutely
Book:The History of Freedom: Great Event
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“That great political idea, sanctifying freedom and consecrating it to God, teaching men to treasure the liberties of others as their own and to defend them for the love of justice and charity more than as a claim of right, has been the soul of what is great and good in the progress of the last two hundred years.”

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Book:The History of Freedom: Great Event
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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.”

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Author:Lord Acton
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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.”

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Book:The History of Freedom (and other Essays)
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