Lord Acton Quotes

The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections.

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.

The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities.

Socialism means slavery.

The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern: every class is unfit to govern.

Men cannot be made good by the state, but they can easily be made bad. Morality depends on liberty.

It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority.

Feudalism made land the measure and the master of all things.

It is easier to find people fit to govern themselves than people fit to govern others.

The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.

A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.

Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.

Great men are almost always bad men.

There is not a soul who does not have to beg alms of another, either a smile, a handshake, or a fond eye.

History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul.

Limitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited.

There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men.

And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that.

The mills of God grind slowly.

The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority.

The possession of unlimited power corrodes the conscience, hardens the heart, and confounds the understanding.

Liberty has not only enemies which it conquers, but perfidious friends, who rob the fruits of its victories: Absolute democracy, socialism.

Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.

Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right of being able to do what we ought.

No public character has ever stood the revelation of private utterance and correspondence.

Official truth is not actual truth.

There are two things which cannot be attacked in front: ignorance and narrow-mindedness. They can only be shaken by the simple development of the contrary qualities. They will not bear discussion.

Socialism easily accepts despotism. It requires the strongest execution of power -- power sufficient to interfere with property.

I'm not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.

Judge talent at its best and character at its worst.

The will of the people cannot make just that which is unjust.

Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority...

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

Learn as much by writing as by reading.

By 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.

Moral precepts are constant through the ages and not obedient to circumstances.

Guard against the prestige of great names; see that your judgments are your own; and do not shrink from disagreement; no trusting without testing

The common vice of democracy is disregard for morality.

Fanaticism in religion is the alliance of the passions she condemns with the dogmas she professes.

In England Parliament is above the law. In America the law is above Congress.

Progress, the religion of those who have none.

If some great catastrophe is not announced every morning, we feel a certain void. Nothing in the paper today, we sigh.

A generous spirit prefers that his country should be poor, and weak, and of no account, but free, rather than powerful, prosperous, and enslaved.

Liberty, next to religion has been the motive of good deeds and the common pretext of crime.

The finest opportunity ever given to the world was thrown away because the passion of equality made vain the hope for freedom.

A liberal is only a bundle of prejudices until he has mastered, has understood, experienced the philosophy of Conservatism.

The test of liberty is the position and security of minorities.

Be not content with the best book; seek sidelights from the others; have no favourites.

Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.

A convinced man differs from a prejudiced man as an honest man from a liar.