Lord Acton Quotes

The wisdom of divine rule appears not in the perfection but in the improvement of the world... History is the true demonstration of Religion.

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

Fanaticism displays itself in the masses; but the masses were rarely fanaticised; and the crimes ascribed to it were commonly due to the calculations of dispassionate politicians.

Government by idea tends to take in everything, to make the whole of society obedient to the idea. Spaces not so governed are unconquered, beyond the border, unconverted, a future danger.

Every error pronounces judgment on itself when it attempts to apply its rules to the standard of truth.

It is dangerous, at any time, to multiply sources of weakness.

The form of government and the condition of society must always correspond. Social equality is therefore a postulate of pure democracy.

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

Towns were the nursery of freedom.

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.

Imagine a congress of eminent celebrities such as More Bacon Grotius Pascal Cromwell Bossuet Montesquieu Jefferson Napoleon Pitt etc. They would be an Encyclopedia of Errors.

Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

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

To be able to look back upon one's past life with satisfaction is to live twice.