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.
LORD ACTONWe are not sure we are right until we have made the best case possible for those who are wrong.
More Lord Acton Quotes
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Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
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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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Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.
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A convinced man differs from a prejudiced man as an honest man from a liar.
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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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Socialism means slavery.
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History, to be above evasion or dispute, must stand on documents, not on opinions.
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Live both in the future and the past. Who does not live in the past does not live in the future.
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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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Fanaticism in religion is the alliance of the passions she condemns with the dogmas she professes.
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Those who have more power are liable to sin more; no theorem in geometry is more certain than this.
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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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When you perceive a truth, look for the balancing truth.
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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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Limitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited.
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Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
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A public man has no right to let his actions be determined by particular interests. He does the same thing as a judge who accepts a bribe. Like a judge he must consider what is right, not what is advantageous to a party or class.
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To develop and perfect and arm conscience is the great achievement of history.
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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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. 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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Men cannot be made good by the state, but they can easily be made bad. Morality depends on liberty.
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But when modern absolutism arose, it laid claim to everything on behalf of the sovereign power….
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A people averse to the institution of private property is without the first elements of freedom
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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 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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I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favorable presumption that they do no wrong.
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