158 Quotes by Lord Acton

Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

But if the thing is criminal, if, for instance, it is a license to commit adultery, the person who authorises the act shares the guilt of the person who commits it.

When you perceive a truth, look for the balancing truth.

The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

From the absolute will of an entire people there is no appeal, no redemption, no refuge but treason.

Learn as much by writing as by reading.

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The fate of every democracy, of every government based on the sovereignty of the people, depends on the choices it makes between these opposite principles, absolute power on the one hand, and on the other the restraints of legality and the authority of tradition.