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In every age its progress has been beset by its natural enemies, by ignorance and superstition, by lust of conquest and by love of ease, by the strong man’s craving for power, and the poor man’s craving for food.

Lord Acton

Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.
LORD ACTON

Authority Exist Force Liberty
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.
LORD ACTON

All Birth Children Citizen Country Free God Good Master Men Neither Poor Salve
It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority.
LORD ACTON

Bad Majority Minority Oppress
Liberty has not only enemies which it conquers, but perfidious friends, who rob the fruits of its victories: Absolute democracy, socialism.
LORD ACTON

Democracy Enemy Friend Fruit Liberty Socialism Victory
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 ACTON

Gold Grainm Stream Knowledge Past Politics River Rivers Sand Science
History, to be above evasion or dispute, must stand on documents, not on opinions.
LORD ACTON

Disputes Document Evasion History Opinion Stand
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.
LORD ACTON

Aspiration Correspond Element Just Life Mankind Normal Principles Social
The mills of God grind slowly.
LORD ACTON

Exactness God Grind Mill Retribution
A liberal is only a bundle of prejudices until he has mastered, has understood, experienced the philosophy of Conservatism.
LORD ACTON

Bundles Experience Master Philosophy Prejudice Understand
Ink was not invented to express our real feelings.
LORD ACTON

Express Feeling Ink Inverted Real
If some great catastrophe is not announced every morning, we feel a certain void. Nothing in the paper today, we sigh.
LORD ACTON

Anxiety Generous Morning Nothing Today Paper
In every age its progress has been beset by its natural enemies, by ignorance and superstition, by lust of conquest and by love of ease, by the strong man’s craving for power, and the poor man’s craving for food.
LORD ACTON

Age Best Conquest Crave Enemies Every Food Ignorance Man Poor Progress
Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.
LORD ACTON

Always Corruption Despotic Morality Power
Character is tested by true sentiments more than by conduct. A man is seldom better than his word.
LORD ACTON

Character Conduct Men Personality Sentiment
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
LORD ACTON

Ago Bad Common Crime Good Ignorance Liberty Men Next Pretext Seed Sow Strong Year
The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. ~ Every class is unfit to govern … Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.
LORD ACTON

Alike Almost Benefit Danger End Mne Object Particular Political

In every age its progress has been beset by its natural enemies, by ignorance and superstition, by lust of conquest and by love of ease, by the strong man’s craving for power, and the poor man’s craving for food.

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In every age its progress has been beset by its natural enemies, by ignorance and superstition, by lust of conquest and by love of ease, by the strong man’s craving for power, and the poor man’s craving for food.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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