Great men are almost always bad men.
Lord ActonRead
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that the more power one has, the more likely they are to be corrupted by it.
Lord Acton's quote highlights the inherent dangers of power, implying that even a small amount of power can lead to corruption, while a large amount of power can result in total moral decay. It serves as a warning that those in positions of authority must be vigilant about the potential for their power to corrupt their integrity and ethical considerations.
Themes
PowerCorruptionAbsolutismAuthorityEthics
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about political leadership and ethics.
More from Lord Acton
All quotes βSave for the wild force of Nature, nothing moves in this world that is not Greek in its origin.
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
To develop and perfect and arm conscience is the great achievement of history.
Lord ActonRead
Similar quotes
Criticism of the Middle East should not be directed only at Saudi Arabia. Human rights abuses are happening throughout the Arab world.
Jamal KhashoggiRead
My earliest memory is being in a snow hole, aged two-and-a-half, with my dad somewhere up a mountain in a blizzard. I don't know what my dad saw in me - I was a geeky kid - but he had that philosophy: prepare the kid for the road, not the road for the kid.
Tommy CaldwellRead
Africa's not a color - it's a place.
Trevor NoahRead
Morality, like numinous awe, is a jump; in it, man goes beyond anything that can be 'given' in the facts of experience.
C. S. LewisRead
No particular thought can be mind's natural state, only silence. Not the idea of silence, but silence itself. When the mind is in its natural state, it reverts to silence spontaneously after every experience, or, rather, every experience happens against the background of silence.
Sri Nisargadatta MaharajRead
Trust and value your own divinity as well as your connection to nature. Seeing God's work everywhere will be your reward.
Wayne DyerRead