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 ACTONSocialism means slavery.
More Lord Acton Quotes
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A public man has no right to let his actions be determined by particular interests. He does the same thing as a judge who accepts a bribe. Like a judge he must consider what is right, not what is advantageous to a party or class.
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But when modern absolutism arose, it laid claim to everything on behalf of the sovereign power….
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The possession of unlimited power corrodes the conscience, hardens the heart, and confounds the understanding.
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Liberty, 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
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Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.
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Political differences essentially depend on disagreement in moral principles.
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The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority.
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Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.
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Democracy generally monopolizes and concentrates power.
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A convinced man differs from a prejudiced man as an honest man from a liar.
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Monarchy hardens into despotism. Aristocracy contracts into oligarchy. Democracy expands into the supremacy of numbers.
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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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Socialism means slavery.
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Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
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Live both in the future and the past. Who does not live in the past does not live in the future.
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