Great men are almost always bad men.
Lord ActonRead
No public character has ever stood the revelation of private utterance and correspondence.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The true nature of a person's character is revealed through their private communications and thoughts.
Lord Acton's quote suggests that public personas often mask the true character of individuals. When private conversations and correspondence are brought to light, they can unveil the hypocrisy or authenticity that exists behind the public facade, illustrating the contrast between how one presents themselves and what they genuinely think or believe.
Themes
CharacterPrivatePublicTruthRevelation
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about leadership ethics, this quote can be used to highlight the importance of integrity.
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
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
War forgets peace. Peace forgives war. War is the death of the life human. Peace is the birth of the Life Divine. Our vital passions want war. Our psychic emotions desire peace.
Sri ChinmoyRead
What must never be lost sight of is that a public functionary, in his capacity as functionary, produces absolutely nothing; that, on the contrary, he exists only on the products of the industrious class; and that he can consume nothing that has not been taken from the producers.
Charles DunoyerRead
If there is hope, it lies in the proles.
George OrwellRead
Neurotic identity crises come when our defense mechanisms have been too successful and we're encapsulated in the fortress we have constructed with nothing to refresh us in our solitary confinement. So we play the old movies with their stale fears and their unrealistic hopes until we become bored enough to risk disarmament and engagement.
Sam KeenRead
The ductless glands secrete among other things our moods, our aspirations, our philosophy of life.
Aldous HuxleyRead
When feminism falls short of our expectations, we decide the problem is with feminism rather than with the flawed people who act in the name of the movement.
Roxane GayRead