Be not content with the best book; seek sidelights from the others; have no favourites.
LORD ACTONThe one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority.
More Lord Acton Quotes
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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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Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.
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History, to be above evasion or dispute, must stand on documents, not on opinions.
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But when modern absolutism arose, it laid claim to everything on behalf of the sovereign power….
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To develop and perfect and arm conscience is the great achievement of history.
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When the last of the Reformers died, religion, instead of emancipating the nations, had become an excuse for the criminal art of despots. Calvin preached, and Bellarmine lectured; but Machiavelli reigned.
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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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At all times sincere friends of freedom have been rare, and its triumphs have been due to minorities.
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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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There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men.
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. 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.
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Great men are almost always bad men.
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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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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 long term versus the short term argument is one used by losers.
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Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.
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The science of politics is the one science that is deposited by the streams of history, like the grains of gold in the sand of a river; and the knowledge of the past, the record of truths revealed by experience, is eminently practical, as an instrument of action and a power that goes to making the future.
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No public character has ever stood the revelation of private utterance and correspondence.
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The true natural check on absolute democracy is the federal system, which limits the central government by the powers reserved, and the state governments by the powers they have ceded.
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For centuries it was never discovered that education was a function of the State, and the State never attempted to educate.
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Judge talent at its best and character at its worst.
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There is not a more perilous or immoral habit of mind than the sanctifying of success.
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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.
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Learn as much by writing as by reading.
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Fanaticism in religion is the alliance of the passions she condemns with the dogmas she professes.
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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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