Lord ActonThe 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 o… ▶362HopeLifePolitics
Lord ActonThere is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it. ✨ 1887 Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 3 Apr.364Truth
Lord ActonIt is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority. For there is a reserve of latent power in the masses which, if it is called into play, the … ▶365HumanityPolitics
Lord ActonProgress, the religion of those who have none.321Time
Lord ActonBy 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. … ▶366Philosophy
Lord ActonThere is not a soul who does not have to beg alms of another, either a smile, a handshake, or a fond eye.377Truth
Lord ActonWhenever a single definite object is made the supreme end of the State, be it the advantage of a class, the safety of the power of the country, the greatest happiness of the great… ▶356PoliticsReadingThought
Lord ActonLiberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end...liberty is the only object which benefits all alike, and provokes no sincere opposition.… ▶378PoliticsReading
Lord ActonThe man who prefers his country before any other duty shows the same spirit as the man who surrenders every right to the state. They both deny that right is superior to authority.… ▶356Politics
Lord ActonGreat men are almost always bad men. ✨ 1887 Letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 3 Apr.301Reflection
Lord ActonHistory is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul.323Reading
Lord ActonNo public character has ever stood the revelation of private utterance and correspondence. ✨ Lord Acton (2016). Historical Essays and Studies: Great Event, p.449, VM eBooks<… ▶291DeathReading
Lord ActonA 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 ri… ▶324Reflection
Lord ActonLive both in the future and the past. Who does not live in the past does not live in the future.3710HopeTime
Lord ActonOfficial truth is not actual truth.3710Truth
Lord ActonLiberty is the harmony between the will and the law.314Politics
Lord ActonMachiavelli's teaching would hardly have stood the test of Parliamentary government, for public discussion demands at least the profession of good faith. ✨ John Emerich Edwa… ▶281HopePolitics
Lord ActonThe long term versus the short term argument is one used by losers.369Humanity
Lord ActonHistory provides neither compensation for suffering nor penalties for wrong. ✨ Historical Essays and Studies. Book by John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, oll.libertyfund.org.… ▶292DeathReading
Lord ActonIf the past has been an obstacle and a burden, knowledge of the past is the safest and the surest emancipation. ✨ Lord Acton (2016). Lectures on Modern History: Great Event,… ▶3710ReadingTime
Lord ActonDemocracy generally monopolizes and concentrates power.348Politics
Lord ActonLiberty 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 s… ▶261HumanityLifePolitics
Lord ActonThe will of the people cannot make just that which is unjust.283Humanity
Lord ActonI'm not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.261Thought
Lord ActonThere are many things the government cant do, many good purposes it must renounce. It must leave them to the enterprise of others. It cannot feed the people. It cannot enrich the … ▶328HumanityPolitics
Lord ActonA liberal is only a bundle of prejudices until he has mastered, has understood, experienced the philosophy of Conservatism.273LifePhilosophy
Lord ActonOpinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral law is written on the tablets of eternity. ✨ Inaugural Lecture on the Study of History, 1906, sourcebooks… ▶3410PoliticsReading
Lord ActonI 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 wa… ▶297LifePolitics
Lord ActonThe 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 c… ▶242PoliticsTruth
Lord ActonSocialism easily accepts despotism. It requires the strongest execution of power -- power sufficient to interfere with property.253Politics
