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.
LORD ACTONAt 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.
More Lord Acton Quotes
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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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Liberty, next to religion has been the motive of good deeds and the common pretext of crime.
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Monarchy hardens into despotism. Aristocracy contracts into oligarchy. Democracy expands into the supremacy of numbers.
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Truth is the only merit that gives dignity and worth to history.
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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.
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The mills of God grind slowly.
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Though oppression may give rise to violent and repeated outbreaks, like the convulsions of a man in pain, it cannot mature a settled purpose and plan of regeneration, unless a new notion of happiness is joined to the sense of present evil.
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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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Socialism means slavery.
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The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.
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Every class is unfit to govern.
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When you perceive a truth, look for the balancing truth.
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Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right of being able to do what we ought.
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If the past has been an obstacle and a burden, knowledge of the past is the safest and the surest emancipation.
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Democracy generally monopolizes and concentrates power.
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