18 Quotes & Sayings By Lord Acton

Lord Acton was a British historian and scholar, who with the French historian Jules Michelet was one of the founders of modern historical studies. In 1887, Acton was appointed to the office of Archivist and Librarian at the British Museum. He is known for his book "Essay on Freedom of Thought".

1
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. Lord Acton
2
Good and evil lie close together. Seek no artistic unity in character. Lord Acton
3
Truth is the only merit that gives dignity and worth to history. Lord Acton
4
There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men. Imagine a congress of eminent celebrities such as More Bacon Grotius Pascal Cromwell Bossuet Montesquieu Jefferson Napoleon Pitt etc. The result would be an Encyclopedia of Errors. Lord Acton
5
There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it. Lord Acton
6
I'm not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money. Lord Acton
7
If some great catastrophe is not announced every morning, we feel a certain void. Nothing in the paper today, we sigh. Lord Acton
8
Learn as much by writing as by reading. Lord Acton
9
History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul. Lord Acton
10
And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that. Lord Acton
11
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Lord Acton
12
Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right to do what we ought. Lord Acton
13
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. Lord Acton
14
The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern: every class is unfit to govern. Lord Acton
15
Socialism means slavery. Lord Acton
16
To be able to look back upon one's past life with satisfaction is to live twice. Lord Acton
17
There is not a soul who does not have to beg alms of another, either a smile, a handshake, or a fond eye. Lord Acton