Great men are almost always bad men.
Lord ActonRead
In every age its (liberty's) progress has been beset by its natural enemies, by ignorance and superstition, by lust of conquest and by love of ease, by the strong man's craving for power, and the poor man's craving for food
Interpretation
What this quote means
Liberty faces persistent challenges from ignorance, desire for power, and basic needs.
This quote by Lord Acton highlights the historical struggle of liberty against various adversities. It suggests that throughout time, freedom and progress have been impeded by ignorance and superstition, the ambition for dominance, and the universal human needs for sustenance and comfort, illustrating the ongoing conflict between the ideals of liberty and the harsh realities of human desire and societal issues.
Themes
LibertyFreedomIgnorancePowerNeeds
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on the importance of liberty in society.
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
It is well sometimes to half understand a poem in the same manner that we half understand the world.
Gilbert K. ChestertonRead
Modes are infinite, and laws are infinite.
MahaviraRead
The bible teaches that women brought sin and death into the world. I don't believe that any man ever talked with god. The bible was written by man out of his love of domination.
Elizabeth Cady StantonRead
Law has become a business. Health care has become a business. Unfortunately, politics has also become a business. That really undermines society.
George SorosRead
H. G. Wells was not the only one to mention Churchill and Hitler in the same breath: "Churchill and Hitler are striving to change the nature of their respective countrymen by forcing and hammering violent methods on them. Man may be suppressed in this manner but he cannot be changed. Ahimsa [non-violence in the Hindu tradition], on the other hand, can change human nature and sooner than men like Churchill and Hitler."
Mahatma GandhiRead
All men were made brothers. The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. You might as well expect the rivers to run backward as that any man who was born free should be content when penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases.
Chief JosephRead