At all times sincere friends of freedom have been rare, and its triumphs have been due to minorities.
LORD ACTONThe 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.
More Lord Acton Quotes
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The principle of the Inquisition was murderous. . . . The popes were not only murderers in the great style, but they also made murder a legal basis of the Christian Church and a condition of salvation.
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But when modern absolutism arose, it laid claim to everything on behalf of the sovereign power….
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Truth is the only merit that gives dignity and worth to history.
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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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History provides neither compensation for suffering nor penalties for wrong.
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Limitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited.
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The strong man with the dagger is followed by the weak man with the sponge.
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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.
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A convinced man differs from a prejudiced man as an honest man from a liar.
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Be generous before you are just. Do not temper mercy with justice.
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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 is not the power of doing what we like, but the right of being able to do what we ought.
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Feudalism made land the measure and the master of all things.
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There 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.
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If there is any presumption, it is the other way against holders of power…power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
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