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There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men.

Lord Acton

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Lord Acton
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More quotes by Lord Acton

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The fate of every democracy, of every government based on the sovereignty of the people, depends on the choices it makes between these opposite principles, absolute power on the one hand, and on the other the restraints of legality and the authority of tradition.
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Feudalism made land the measure and the master of all things.
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The reward of history is that it releases and relieves us from present strife.
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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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To develop and perfect and arm conscience is the great achievement of history.
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The test of liberty is the position and security of minorities.
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The idea that the object of constitutions is not to confirm the predominance of any interest, but to prevent it to preserve with equal care the independence of labour and the security of property to make the rich safe against envy, and the poor against oppression, marks the highest level attained by the statesmanship of Greece.
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The passion for power over others can never cease to threaten mankind, and is always sure of finding new and unforseen allies in continuing its martyrology.
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Federalism is the best curb on democracy. [It] assigns limited powers to the central government. Thereby all power is limited. It excludes absolute power of the majority.
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Liberty has not only enemies which it conquers, but perfidious friends, who rob the fruits of its victories: Absolute democracy, socialism.
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Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.
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I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favorable presumption that they do no wrong. 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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Socialism easily accepts despotism. It requires the strongest execution of power -- power sufficient to interfere with property.
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Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.
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History, to be above evasion or dispute, must stand on documents, not on opinions.
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At all times sincere friends of freedom have been rare, and its triumphs have been due to minorities.
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Political differences essentially depend on disagreement in moral principles.
Lord Acton
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It is easier to find people fit to govern themselves than people fit to govern others.
Lord Acton
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The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities.
Lord Acton
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Property is not the sacred right. When a rich man becomes poor it is a misfortune, it is not a moral evil. When a poor man becomes destitute, it is a moral evil, teeming with consequences and injurious to society and morality.
Lord Acton