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

Lord Acton

More information about this quote

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

Occupation

Politician Writer

From

United Kingdom Europe

Authentication Score 0

Citation

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

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Lord Acton about abuse of power: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men…”
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A quote by Lord Acton about abuse of power: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men…”
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A quote by Lord Acton about abuse of power: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1880s

It would be hard to find a single instance of a direct assault by positive effort upon poverty, vice, and misery which has not either failed or, if it has not failed directly and entirely, has not entailed other evils greater than the one which it removed.

William Graham Sumner

Sociology

More information about this quote
Topic
Public policy Poverty

Author

William Graham Sumner
Source
Sociology
Medium
Essay
Genre
Sociology
Language
English
Time
1881 1880s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Sumner, William Graham. "Sociology." The Princeton Review, May 1881.

Another quote about Power

Every Communist must grasp the truth: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."

Mao Zedong

Read this quote at marxists.org
More information about this quote
Topic
Power Political theory Politics
Speaker
Mao Zedong
Medium
Speech
Genre
Political speech
Language
Chinese
Time
1938 1930s 20th century
Authentication Score 2
Citation

Zedong, Mao. "Problems of War and Strategy." Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Party. 6 Nov. 1938, Yan'an, China.

Another quote of the following type Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Fortune, that arrant whore,
Ne’er turns the key to th’ poor.

William Shakespeare

King Lear

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Read King Lear at The Folger Shakespeare Library
More information about this quote
Topic
Fortune Good luck The poor
Speaker
Fool

Author

William Shakespeare
Source
King Lear
Medium
Play
Genre
Tragedy (play)
Statement Type
Proverbs, aphorisms and adages
Language
English
Time
1606 1600s 17th century
Era
European Renaissance
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. King Lear. King's Men, 26 Dec. 1606, Palace of Whitehall, Westminster, England, UK, act 2, sc. 4.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Tragedy of King Lear." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 2, sc. 4.