Monarchy hardens into despotism. Aristocracy contracts into oligarchy. Democracy expands into the supremacy of numbers.
LORD ACTONThe strong man with the dagger is followed by the weak man with the sponge.
More Lord Acton Quotes
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From the absolute will of an entire people there is no appeal, no redemption, no refuge but treason.
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Be not content with the best book; seek sidelights from the others; have no favourites.
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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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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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Limitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited.
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The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. ~ Every class is unfit to govern … Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.
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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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The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.
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Judge talent at its best and character at its worst.
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Be generous before you are just. Do not temper mercy with justice.
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It is easier to find people fit to govern themselves than people fit to govern others.
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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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Liberty, next to religion has been the motive of good deeds and the common pretext of crime.
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History, to be above evasion or dispute, must stand on documents, not on opinions.
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A people averse to the institution of private property is without the first elements of freedom
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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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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.
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When you perceive a truth, look for the balancing truth.
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Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral law is written on the tablets of eternity.
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History provides neither compensation for suffering nor penalties for wrong.
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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 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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Democracy generally monopolizes and concentrates power.
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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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Fanaticism in religion is the alliance of the passions she condemns with the dogmas she professes.
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Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
LORD ACTON