Quotes from Lord Acton

Character is tested by true sentiments more than by conduct. A man is seldom better than his word.

A man can be trusted only up to low-water mark.

Remember that one touch of ill-nature makes the whole world kin.

Before men can find peace and harmony within themselves they must first fall in love with their country.

A history that should pursue all the subtle threads from end to end might be eminently valuable, but not as a tribute to peace and conciliation.

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.

Great men are almost always bad 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.

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

Machiavelli's teaching would hardly have stood the test of Parliamentary government, for public discussion demands at least the profession of good faith.

A government does not desire its powers to be strictly defined, but the subjects require the line to be drawn with increasing precision.

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

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

History is the arbiter of controversy, the monarch of all she surveys.

Advice to Persons About to Write History - Don't.

The reward of history is that it releases and relieves us from present strife.

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

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

Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.

Absolute power demoralizes.

Everybody likes to get as much power as circumstances allow, and nobody will vote for a self-denying ordinance.

Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

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

Liberty is the prevention of control by others. This requires self-control and, therefore, religious and spiritual influences; education, knowledge, well-being.