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Truth is the only merit that gives dignity and worth to history.

Lord Acton

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Lord Acton
Truth
Giving
Merit
Dignity
Worth
Gives
History

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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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Monarchy hardens into despotism. Aristocracy contracts into oligarchy. Democracy expands into the supremacy of numbers.
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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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In every age its (liberty's) 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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A man can be trusted only up to low-water mark.
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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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It is easier to find people fit to govern themselves than people fit to govern others.
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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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I'm not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.
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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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Progress, the religion of those who have none.
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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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The principle of the Inquisition was murderous. . . . The popes were not only murderers in the great style, but they also made murder a legal basis of the Christian Church and a condition of salvation.
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Before men can find peace and harmony within themselves they must first fall in love with their country.
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When you perceive a truth, look for the balancing truth.
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Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.
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If the past has been an obstacle and a burden, knowledge of the past is the safest and the surest emancipation.
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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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Machiavelli's teaching would hardly have stood the test of Parliamentary government, for public discussion demands at least the profession of good faith.
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Remember that one touch of ill-nature makes the whole world kin.
Lord Acton