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The possession of unlimited power corrodes the conscience, hardens the heart, and confounds the understanding.

Lord Acton

Be not content with the best book; seek sidelights from the others; have no favourites.
LORD ACTON

Best Book Content Delight Favorite Other Seek Sidelight
The finest opportunity ever given to the world was thrown away because the passion of equality made vain the hope for freedom.
LORD ACTON

Finest Freedom Hope Middle Opportunity Passion Quality World
In every age its progress has been beset by its natural enemies, by ignorance and superstition, by lust of conquest and by love of ease, by the strong man’s craving for power, and the poor man’s craving for food.
LORD ACTON

Age Best Conquest Crave Enemies Every Food Ignorance Man Poor Progress
Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral law is written on the tablets of eternity.
LORD ACTON

Change Creed Eternity Fail Fall Law Manner Moral Opinion Table Tablet
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.
LORD ACTON

Accept Do Favorable Judge King Men Pope Power Presumption Unlike Wrong
Liberty, next to religion has been the motive of good deeds and the common pretext of crime.
LORD ACTON

Common Crime Deed Good Liberty Motive Next
There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men.
LORD ACTON

Ablest Defender Error Failing Men Monstrous
History provides neither compensation for suffering nor penalties for wrong.
LORD ACTON

Compensation History Penalties Provide Suffering
A convinced man differs from a prejudiced man as an honest man from a liar.
LORD ACTON

Convince Differ Honest Liar Men
The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern: every class is unfit to govern.
LORD ACTON

Clas Class Danger Every Govern Particular Unfit
Liberty is the prevention of control by others.
LORD ACTON

Control Liberty Other Prevention
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.
LORD ACTON

Art Criminal Despot Die Emancipate Excuse Last Nation Preacher Reformer
Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.
LORD ACTON

Almost Always Authority Great Influence Men Stillmore
Feudalism made land the measure and the master of all things.
LORD ACTON

Feudalism Land Made Master Measure Real
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.
LORD ACTON

All Birth Children Citizen Country Free God Good Master Men Neither Poor Salve
It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority.
LORD ACTON

Bad Majority Minority Oppress

The possession of unlimited power corrodes the conscience, hardens the heart, and confounds the understanding.

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The possession of unlimited power corrodes the conscience, hardens the heart, and confounds the understanding.

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Popular Authors

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