A generous spirit prefers that his country should be poor, and weak, and of no account, but free, rather than powerful, prosperous, and enslaved.
LORD ACTONLiberty, next to religion has been the motive of good deeds and the common pretext of crime, from the sowing of the seed at Athens, 2,460 years ago, until the ripened harvest was gathered by men of our race
More Lord Acton Quotes
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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
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There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men.
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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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We are not sure we are right until we have made the best case possible for those who are wrong.
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Official truth is not actual truth.
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Liberty is the prevention of control by others. This requires self-control and, therefore, religious and spiritual influences; education, knowledge, well-being.
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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.
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The mills of God grind slowly.
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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.
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Monarchy hardens into despotism. Aristocracy contracts into oligarchy. Democracy expands into the supremacy of numbers.
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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.
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Liberty and good government do not exclude each other; and there are excellent reasons why they should go together.
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False principles, which correspond with the bad as well as with the just aspirations of mankind, are a normal and necessary element in the social life of nations.
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Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.
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Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority…
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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…
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The will of the people cannot make just that which is unjust.
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Socialism means slavery.
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Socialism easily accepts despotism. It requires the strongest execution of power — power sufficient to interfere with property.
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In England Parliament is above the law. In America the law is above Congress.
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Truth is the only merit that gives dignity and worth to history.
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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.
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The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority.
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When you perceive a truth, look for the balancing truth.
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The minority can seldom resist. But from the absolute will of an entire people there is no appeal, no redemption, no refuge but treason.
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No public character has ever stood the revelation of private utterance and correspondence.
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