Lord Acton

Explore 4 quotes by Lord Acton

Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.

Lord Acton

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Topic

Abuse of power Power Great men Corruption

Speaker

Lord Acton

Source

Letters of Lord Acton

Medium

Letter

Statement Type

Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Language

English

Time

1887 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Lord Acton. Letter to Archbishop Mandell Creighton. 5 Apr. 1887.

Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.

Lord Acton

The History of Freedom in Antiquity

More information about this quote

Topic

Freedom Political theory Politics

Author

Lord Acton

Source

The History of Freedom in Antiquity

Medium

Lecture

Language

English

Time

1877 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Lord Acton. "The History of Freedom in Antiquity." 26 Feb. 1877, Bridgnorth Institute, Bridgnorth, England, UK. Address.

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 results would be an Encyclopedia of Error.

Lord Acton

More information about this quote

Topic

Bad ideas Truth and error

Author

Lord Acton

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1881 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lord Acton. Letter to Mary Gladstone. 24 Apr. 1881.

Writers the most learned, the most accurate in details, and the soundest in tendency, frequently fall into a habit which can neither be cured nor pardoned-the habit of making history into the proof of their theories.

Lord Acton

More information about this quote

Topic

Confirmation bias

Author

Lord Acton

Genre

Historical literature

Language

English

Time

1907 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lord Acton. "Mr. Goldwin Smith's Irish History." The History of Freedom and Other Essays. Macmillan, 1907.