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At all times sincere friends of freedom have been rare, and its triumphs have been due to minorities.

Lord Acton

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Lord Acton
Sincere
Dues
Rare
Triumph
Liberty
Friends
Freedom
Triumphs
Times
Minorities

More quotes by Lord Acton

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The few have not strength to achieve great changes unaided the many have not wisdom to be moved by truth unmixed.
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A government does not desire its powers to be strictly defined, but the subjects require the line to be drawn with increasing precision.
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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.
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Political differences essentially depend on disagreement in moral principles.
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Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral law is written on the tablets of eternity.
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Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
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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.
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Remember that one touch of ill-nature makes the whole world kin.
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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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The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority.
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History provides neither compensation for suffering nor penalties for wrong.
Lord Acton
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Feudalism made land the measure and the master of all things.
Lord Acton
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The strong man with the dagger is followed by the weak man with the sponge.
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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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Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.
Lord Acton
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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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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.
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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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History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul.
Lord Acton
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Limitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited.
Lord Acton