Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right of being able to do what we ought.
LORD ACTONHistory provides neither compensation for suffering nor penalties for wrong.
More Lord Acton Quotes
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False principles, which correspond with the bad as well as with the just aspirations of mankind, are a normal and necessary element in the social life of nations.
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Moral precepts are constant through the ages and not obedient to circumstances.
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Liberty is the prevention of control by others.
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The mills of God grind slowly.
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Though oppression may give rise to violent and repeated outbreaks, like the convulsions of a man in pain, it cannot mature a settled purpose and plan of regeneration, unless a new notion of happiness is joined to the sense of present evil.
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There should be a law to the People besides its own will.
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The test of liberty is the position and security of minorities.
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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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Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.
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It is easier to find people fit to govern themselves than people fit to govern others.
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A liberal is only a bundle of prejudices until he has mastered, has understood, experienced the philosophy of Conservatism.
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The possession of unlimited power corrodes the conscience, hardens the heart, and confounds the understanding.
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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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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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Piety sometimes gives birth to scruples, and faith to superstition, when they are not directed by wisdom and knowledge.
LORD ACTON