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Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Lord Acton

A liberal is only a bundle of prejudices until he has mastered, has understood, experienced the philosophy of Conservatism.
LORD ACTON

Bundles Experience Master Philosophy Prejudice Understand
Liberty is the prevention of control by others. This requires self-control and, therefore, religious and spiritual influences; education, knowledge, well-being.
LORD ACTON

Control Liberty Other Prevention
Liberty has not only enemies which it conquers, but perfidious friends, who rob the fruits of its victories: Absolute democracy, socialism.
LORD ACTON

Democracy Enemy Friend Fruit Liberty Socialism Victory
Live both in the future and the past. Who does not live in the past does not live in the future.
LORD ACTON

Both Future Live Past
I have reached the end of my time, and have hardly come to the beginning of my task.
LORD ACTON

Begining Come End Hardly Task Time
Government rules the present. Literature rules the future.
LORD ACTON

Future Government Literature Present Rule
No public character has ever stood the revelation of private utterance and correspondence.
LORD ACTON

Character Correspondance Public Revelation Stood Utterance
And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that.
LORD ACTON

Concentration Control Frequently Hand Men Mentality Peace Power Remember
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.
LORD ACTON

Majority Minorities Oppressed People Play Worse
Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.
LORD ACTON

Authority Exist Force Liberty
The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections.
LORD ACTON

Democracies Force Fraud Majority Party Prevaiding Rule Succeed Tyranny
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 ACTON

Gold Grainm Stream Knowledge Past Politics River Rivers Sand Science
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.
LORD ACTON

Assign Best Central Club Democracy Federalism Government Power
The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority.
LORD ACTON

Democracy Evil Majority One Pervaide Tyranny
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end…liberty is the only object which benefits all alike, and provokes no sincere opposition…
LORD ACTON

Benefit Class Higher Liberty Mean Men Political
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
LORD ACTON

Absolute Corrupt Exercise Influence Men Power Tend

Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

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Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

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