158 Quotes by Lord Acton

The science of politics is the one science that is deposited by the streams of history, like the grains of gold in the sand of a river; and the knowledge of the past, the record of truths revealed by experience, is eminently practical, as an instrument of action and a power that goes to making the future.

Do not turn yourself from an end into a means-one does not justify the other.

The long term versus the short term argument is one used by losers.

The light that has guided us is still unquenched, and the causes that have carried us so far in the van of free nations have not spent their power; because the story of the future is written in the past, and that which hath been is the same thing that shall be.

There is not a soul who does not have to beg alms of another, either a smile, a handshake, or a fond eye.

The passion for power over others can never cease to threaten mankind, and is always sure of finding new and unforseen allies in continuing its martyrology.

A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.

If the past has been an obstacle and a burden, knowledge of the past is the safest and the surest emancipation.

I'm not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.