. It is the delicate fruit of a mature civilization; and scarcely a century has passed since nations, that knew the meaning of the term, resolved to be free.
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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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.
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Be generous before you are just. Do not temper mercy with justice.
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Ink was not invented to express our real feelings.
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Truth is the only merit that gives dignity and worth to history.
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Democracy generally monopolizes and concentrates power.
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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.
LORD ACTON -
Limitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited.
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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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At all times sincere friends of freedom have been rare, and its triumphs have been due to minorities.
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Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
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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.
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Progress, the religion of those who have none.
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The common vice of democracy is disregard for morality.
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History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul.
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History, to be above evasion or dispute, must stand on documents, not on opinions.
LORD ACTON