English historian, politician & writer (1834-1902)
Whenever a single definite object is made the supreme end of the State, be it the advantage of a class, the safety of the power of the country, the greatest happiness of the greatest number, or the support of any speculative idea, the State becomes for the time inevitably absolute. Liberty alone demands for its realisation the limitation of the public authority, for liberty is the only object which benefits all alike, and provokes no sincere opposition.
LORD ACTON
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"Nationality", Home and Foreign Review, Jul. 1862
I am afraid you will forgive the length neither of my letter nor of my silence, and will be as much bored by the silver of the one as by the golden of the other.
LORD ACTON
letter to Mary Gladstone, March 15, 1880
Party is not only, not so much, a group of men as a set of ideas and ideal aims.
LORD ACTON
letter to Mary Gladstone, June 1, 1880
Liberty is the prevention of control by others. This requires self-control and, therefore, religious and spiritual influences; education, knowledge, well-being.
LORD ACTON
Selected Writings of Lord Acton: Essays in Religion, Politics, and Morality
The vividness and force with which we trace the motion of history depends on the degree to which we look beyond persons and fix our gaze on things.
LORD ACTON
letter to Mary Gladstone, March 15, 1880
The danger of reading too much is that we shall have only the thoughts of others. The danger of reading too little or none at all, that we shall have none but our own.
LORD ACTON
attributed, Day's Collacon
Manners differ with climates; the northern nations are distinguished for etiquette, the eastern for ceremony, and the southern for courtesy.
LORD ACTON
attributed, Day's Collacon
Simplicity is the first thing that is lost, and the last that is regained.
LORD ACTON
Acton; Or, the Circle of Life: A Collection of Thoughts and Observations Designed to Delineate Life, Man, and the World
Feudalism made land the measure and the master of all things.
LORD ACTON
The History of Freedom in Christianity
You see so many interesting and eminent men that you can spare a miss sometimes.
LORD ACTON
letter to Mary Gladstone, March 15, 1880
It is so easy to do a dirty thing with self-satisfaction when it consists in abstaining from action.
LORD ACTON
letter to Mary Gladstone, June 1, 1880
It was from America that the plain ideas that men ought to mind their business, and that the nation is responsible to Heaven for the acts of the State -- ideas long locked in the breast of solitary thinkers, and hidden among Latin folios -- burst forth like a conqueror upon the world they were destined to transform, under the title of the Rights of Man ... and the principle gained ground, that a nation can never abandon its fate to an authority it cannot control.
LORD ACTON
The History of Freedom in Antiquity
To spend and lose a majority in some great cause, to be abused and ridiculed and calumniated, seems to the writer a misfortune so great that it is worth while to haul down one's flag rather than incur the risk of it. This is the power of journalism, of salons and club life, which teaches people to depend on popularity and success and not on the guide within, to act not from knowledge, but from opinion, and to be led by opinion of others rather than by knowledge which is their own.
LORD ACTON
letter to Mary Gladstone, June 1, 1880
The animosity of the defeated party is natural, manifest, and invincible.
LORD ACTON
letter to Mary Gladstone, May 23, 1880
Nothing is more untrue than the famous saying of an ancient historian, that power is retained by the same arts by which it is acquired; untrue at least for men, though truer in the case of nations.
LORD ACTON
letter to Mary Gladstone, June 1, 1880
Mediocrity not unfrequently wins the honors and emoluments that talent often aspires to in vain. It is the great golden rule of cautious prudence, and sure, undeviating wisdom. Its days abound with peace, and its nights with sweet repose. While the great and lofty are hazarding their safety in the clouds, and inhaling attenuated vapors, the humble but prudent advocates of mediocrity securely rest upon the earth, not where grow the reeds and flowers, but amidst harvest fields and well-stored granaries.
LORD ACTON
Acton; Or, The Circle of Life
Although ink was not invented to express our real feelings, I improve my first stoppage between two trains to thank you for three such delightful days in London. It was a shame to take up so much of your busy time, and to persecute you with the serpentine wisdom. I did not wish to turn into bitterness the sweetest thing on earth, but I fancied that there are things good to be observed in your great position which nobody will tell you if you do not hear them from the most wicked of your friends.
LORD ACTON
letter to Mary Gladstone, May 23, 1880
Meekness is the chief grace and perfection of the soul.
LORD ACTON
attributed, Day's Collacon
It must be confessed, however, that sentiment is the charm, as it always is the affection of mediocrity, which, without it, would often be insufferable, and yet with it, is as often ridiculous.
LORD ACTON
Acton; Or, The Circle of Life
The State is competent to assign duties and draw the line between good and evil only in its immediate sphere. Beyond the limits of things necessary for its well-being, it can only give indirect help to fight the battle of life by promoting the influences which prevail against temptation--religion, education, and the distribution of wealth.
LORD ACTON
The History of Freedom in Antiquity