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It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority.

Lord Acton

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Lord Acton
Democracy
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More quotes by Lord Acton

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The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority.
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Every error pronounces judgment on itself when it attempts to apply its rules to the standard of truth.
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A generous spirit prefers that his country should be poor, and weak, and of no account, but free, rather than powerful, prosperous, and enslaved.
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Liberty, next to religion has been the motive of good deeds and the common pretext of crime.
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There is not a soul who does not have to beg alms of another, either a smile, a handshake, or a fond eye.
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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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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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Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. It is not for the sake of a good public administration that it is required, but for the security in the pursuit of the highest objects of civil society, and of private life.
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Limitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited.
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By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes to be his duty against the influences of authority and majorities, custom and opinion.
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The form of government and the condition of society must always correspond. Social equality is therefore a postulate of pure democracy.
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Advice to Persons About to Write History - Don't.
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It is dangerous, at any time, to multiply sources of weakness.
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Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.
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And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that.
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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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Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.
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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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Men cannot be made good by the state, but they can easily be made bad. Morality depends on liberty.
Lord Acton