Far from being the product of a democratic revolution and of an opposition to English institutions, the constitution of the United States was the result of a powerful reaction against democracy, and in favor of the traditions of the mother country.
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.
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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When the last of the Reformers died, religion, instead of emancipating the nations, had become an excuse for the criminal art of despots. Calvin preached, and Bellarmine lectured; but Machiavelli reigned.
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History, to be above evasion or dispute, must stand on documents, not on opinions.
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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 and good government do not exclude each other; and there are excellent reasons why they should go together.
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Liberty is the prevention of control by others.
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The long term versus the short term argument is one used by losers.
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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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Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral law is written on the tablets of eternity.
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A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.
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Limitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited.
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Men cannot be made good by the state, but they can easily be made bad. Morality depends on liberty.
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If some great catastrophe is not announced every morning, we feel a certain void. Nothing in the paper today, we sigh.
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Government rules the present. Literature rules the future.
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Socialism means slavery.
LORD ACTON