Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right of being able to do what we ought.
LORD ACTONLiberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right of being able to do what we ought.
LORD ACTONHistory, to be above evasion or dispute, must stand on documents, not on opinions.
LORD ACTONAnd 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 ACTONMen cannot be made good by the state, but they can easily be made bad. Morality depends on liberty.
LORD ACTONTruth is the only merit that gives dignity and worth to history.
LORD ACTONI’m not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.
LORD ACTONLiberty 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 ACTONLiberty, next to religion has been the motive of good deeds and the common pretext of crime, from the sowing of the seed at Athens, 2,460 years ago, until the ripened harvest was gathered by men of our race
LORD ACTONThere are two things which cannot be attacked in front: ignorance and narrow-mindedness. They can only be shaken by the simple development of the contrary qualities. They will not bear discussion.
LORD ACTONOpinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral law is written on the tablets of eternity.
LORD ACTONLearn as much by writing as by reading.
LORD ACTONThe test of liberty is the position and security of minorities.
LORD ACTONFederalism 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 ACTONSocialism easily accepts despotism. It requires the strongest execution of power — power sufficient to interfere with property.
LORD ACTONThe 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.
LORD ACTONThe 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.
LORD ACTON