Men cannot be made good by the state, but they can easily be made bad. Morality depends on liberty.
LORD ACTONInk was not invented to express our real feelings.
More Lord Acton Quotes
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Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.
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The strong man with the dagger is followed by the weak man with the sponge.
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Fanaticism in religion is the alliance of the passions she condemns with the dogmas she professes.
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The will of the people cannot make just that which is unjust.
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There are many things the government cant do, many good purposes it must renounce. It must leave them to the enterprise of others. It cannot feed the people. It cannot enrich the people. It cannot teach the people. It cannot convert the people.
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Limitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited.
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The finest opportunity ever given to the world was thrown away because the passion of equality made vain the hope for freedom.
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Be generous before you are just. Do not temper mercy with justice.
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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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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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Progress, the religion of those who have none.
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Federalism is the best curb on democracy. [It] assigns limited powers to the central government. Thereby all power is limited. It excludes absolute power of the majority.
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It is easier to find people fit to govern themselves than people fit to govern others.
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Be not content with the best book; seek sidelights from the others; have no favourites.
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It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority.
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