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When the last of the Reformers died, religion, instead of emancipating the nations, had become an excuse for the criminal art of despots. Calvin preached, and Bellarmine lectured but Machiavelli reigned.
Lord Acton
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More quotes by Lord Acton
The wisdom of divine rule appears not in the perfection but in the improvement of the world... History is the true demonstration of Religion.
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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.
Lord Acton
There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men. Imagine a congress of eminent celebrities, such as More, Bacon, Grotius, Pascal, Cromwell, Bossuet, Montesquieu, Jefferson, Napoleon, Pitt, etc. The result would be an Encyclopedia of Error.
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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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The form of government and the condition of society must always correspond. Social equality is therefore a postulate of pure democracy.
Lord Acton
The strong man with the dagger is followed by the weak man with the sponge.
Lord Acton
Liberty, next to religion has been the motive of good deeds and the common pretext of crime.
Lord Acton
Fanaticism displays itself in the masses but the masses were rarely fanaticised and the crimes ascribed to it were commonly due to the calculations of dispassionate politicians.
Lord Acton
It is easier to find people fit to govern themselves than people fit to govern others.
Lord Acton
If some great catastrophe is not announced every morning, we feel a certain void. Nothing in the paper today, we sigh.
Lord Acton
Save for the wild force of Nature, nothing moves in this world that is not Greek in its origin.
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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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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 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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Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral law is written on the tablets of eternity.
Lord Acton
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.
Lord Acton
It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority.
Lord Acton
Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.
Lord Acton
The common vice of democracy is disregard for morality.
Lord Acton