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The strong man with the dagger is followed by the weak man with the sponge.

Lord Acton

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Lord Acton
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More quotes by Lord Acton

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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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History provides neither compensation for suffering nor penalties for wrong.
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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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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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I'm not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.
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Truth is the only merit that gives dignity and worth to history.
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Feudalism made land the measure and the master of all things.
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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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If the past has been an obstacle and a burden, knowledge of the past is the safest and the surest emancipation.
Lord Acton
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Limitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited.
Lord Acton
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Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Lord Acton
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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.
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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.
Lord Acton
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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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Liberty, next to religion has been the motive of good deeds and the common pretext of crime.
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The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority.
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Before men can find peace and harmony within themselves they must first fall in love with their country.
Lord Acton
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The law of liberty tends to abolish the reign of race over race, of faith over faith, of class over class. It is not the realisation of a political ideal: it is the discharge of a moral obligation.
Lord Acton
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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.
Lord Acton
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It is easier to find people fit to govern themselves than people fit to govern others.
Lord Acton