Great men are almost always bad men.
Lord ActonRead
Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Absolutism leads to moral decay.
Lord Acton's quote highlights the intrinsic link between unchecked power and the erosion of ethical values. It suggests that when authority becomes despotic, it not only affects the actions of those who wield it but also corrupts the moral framework of society, leading to a failure in integrity and justice.
Themes
PowerCorruptionMoralityAuthorityEthics
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a discussion about political power and its influence on ethics in governance.
More from Lord Acton
All quotes →Save for the wild force of Nature, nothing moves in this world that is not Greek in its origin.
Lord ActonRead
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Lord ActonRead
Liberty and good government do not exclude each other; and there are excellent reasons why they should go together. Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.
Lord ActonRead
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end...liberty is the only object which benefits all alike, and provokes no sincere opposition...The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. ~ Every class is unfit to govern ... Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.
Lord ActonRead
Limitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited.
Lord ActonRead
Similar quotes
How much more of the mosque, of prayer and fasting?_x000D_ _x000D_ Better go drunk and begging round the taverns._x000D_ _x000D_ Khayyam, drink wine, for soon this clay of yours_x000D_ _x000D_ Will make a cup, bowl, one day a jar._x000D_ _x000D_ When once you hear the roses are in bloom,_x000D_ _x000D_ Then is the time, my love, to pour the wine;_x000D_ _x000D_ Houris and palaces and Heaven and Hell-_x000D_ _x000D_ These are but fairy-tales, forget them all.
Omar KhayyamRead
When you cry and weep, when you are miserable, you are alone. When you celebrate, the whole existence participates with you. Only in celebration do we meet the ultimate, the eternal. Only in celebration do we go beyond the circle of birth and death.
RajneeshRead
No one would think he'd make such a beautiful corpse.
James JoyceRead
Reckoned physiologically, everything ugly weakens and afflicts man. It recalls decay, danger, impotence; he actually suffers a loss of energy in its presence. The effect of the ugly can be measured with a dynamometer. Whenever man feels in any way depressed, he senses the proximity of something ugly. His feeling of power, his will to power, his courage, his pride - they decline with the ugly, they increase with the beautiful.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Amnesia is not knowing who one is and wanting desperately to find out. Euphoria is not knowing who one is and not caring. Ecstasy is knowing exactly who one is - and still not caring.
Tom RobbinsRead
If you think about human nature, our favourite pair of shoes are the ones we bought yesterday, our favourite thing is the newest thing that we have…and the thing we’ve seen the most and for the longest period of time is our reflection in the mirror, so obviously that’s going to be our least favourite thing.
Taylor SwiftRead