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 ACTONCharacter is tested by true sentiments more than by conduct. A man is seldom better than his word.
More Lord Acton Quotes
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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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Be not content with the best book; seek sidelights from the others; have no favourites.
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Monarchy hardens into despotism. Aristocracy contracts into oligarchy. Democracy expands into the supremacy of numbers.
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Progress, the religion of those who have none.
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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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There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it.
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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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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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For centuries it was never discovered that education was a function of the State, and the State never attempted to educate.
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Socialism means slavery.
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The finest opportunity ever given to the world was thrown away because the passion of equality made vain the hope for freedom.
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History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul.
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Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.
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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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I’m not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.
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Character is tested by true sentiments more than by conduct. A man is seldom better than his word.
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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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Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
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Do not turn yourself from an end into a means-one does not justify the other.
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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.
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Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end…liberty is the only object which benefits all alike, and provokes no sincere opposition…
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Liberty is the prevention of control by others.
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From the absolute will of an entire people there is no appeal, no redemption, no refuge but treason.
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Moral precepts are constant through the ages and not obedient to circumstances.
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I have reached the end of my time, and have hardly come to the beginning of my task.
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There are many things the government cant do, many good purposes it must renounce. It must leave them to the enterprise of others. It cannot feed the people. It cannot enrich the people. It cannot teach the people. It cannot convert the people.
LORD ACTON