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Liberty is the harmony between the will and the law.
Lord Acton
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Liberty is achieved when personal desires align with legal frameworks.

This quote by Lord Acton emphasizes the concept of liberty as a state where an individual's will is in agreement with the laws governing society. True freedom is not merely the absence of constraints, but rather a condition where one's personal intentions and the established legal order coexist harmoniously, allowing for a balanced and just society.

Themes

LibertyLawFreedomWillHarmony

In practice

Example use cases

In a debate about civil rights, one might use this quote to underscore the importance of aligning personal freedoms with societal laws.

More from Lord Acton

Great men are almost always bad men.
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Save for the wild force of Nature, nothing moves in this world that is not Greek in its origin.
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Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
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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.
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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.
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Limitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited.
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