States Quotes by Lord Acton

8 States quotes by Lord Acton

Acton’s famous caution about power appears in eight brief statements, offering a concise, timeless perspective on states.

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It was from America that the plain ideas that men ought to mind their business, and that the nation is responsible to…

Lord Acton

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For centuries it was never discovered that education was a function of the State, and the State never attempted to educate. But…

Lord Acton

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

Lord Acton

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The State is competent to assign duties and draw the line between good and evil only in its immediate sphere. Beyond the…

Lord Acton

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The barbarians, who possessed no books, no secular knowledge, no education, except in the schools of the clergy, and who had scarcely…

Lord Acton

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I saw in States' rights the only availing check upon the absolutism of the sovereign will, and secession filled me with hope,…

Lord Acton

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The true natural check on absolute democracy is the federal system, which limits the central government by the powers reserved, and the…

Lord Acton

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Whenever a single definite object is made the supreme end of the State, be it the advantage of a class, the safety…

Lord Acton

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The history of institutions is often a history of deception and illusions; for their virtue depends on the ideas that produce and on the…

Lord Acton

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

Lord Acton

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Every class is unfit to govern.

Lord Acton

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Fanaticism displays itself in the masses; but the masses were rarely fanaticised; and the crimes ascribed to it were commonly due to the calculations…

Lord Acton

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

Lord Acton

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There is not a more perilous or immoral habit of mind than the sanctifying of success.

Lord Acton

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Towns were the nursery of freedom.

Lord Acton

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It was from America that the plain ideas that men ought to mind their business, and that the nation is responsible to Heaven for…

Lord Acton

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

Lord Acton

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Liberty and good government do not exclude each other; and there are excellent reasons why they should go together. Liberty is not a means…

Lord Acton

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

Lord Acton

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The common vice of democracy is disregard for morality.

Lord Acton

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

Lord Acton

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“power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutley”

Lord Acton

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There are many things the government cant do, many good purposes it must renounce. It must leave them to the enterprise of others. It…

Lord Acton

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