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Top 120 Lord Acton Quotes (2025 Update)
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Lord Acton Quote: “There are many things the government cant do, many good purposes it must renounce. It must leave them to the enterprise of others. It cannot feed the people. It cannot enrich the people. It cannot teach the people. It cannot convert the people.”

101. “There are many things the government cant do, many good purposes it must renounce. It must leave them to the enterprise of others. It cannot feed the people. It cannot enrich the people. It cannot teach the people. It cannot convert the people.”

Lord Acton Quote: “Socialism easily accepts despotism. It requires the strongest execution of power – power sufficient to interfere with property.”

102. “Socialism easily accepts despotism. It requires the strongest execution of power – power sufficient to interfere with property.”

Lord Acton Quote: “There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men. Imagine a congress of eminent celebrities, such as More, Bacon, Grotius, Pascal, Cromwell, Bossuet, Montesquieu, Jefferson, Napoleon, Pitt, etc. The result would be an Encyclopedia of Error.”

103. “There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men. Imagine a congress of eminent celebrities, such as More, Bacon, Grotius, Pascal, Cromwell, Bossuet, Montesquieu, Jefferson, Napoleon, Pitt, etc. The result would be an Encyclopedia of Error.”

Lord Acton Quote: “Towns were the nursery of freedom.”

104. “Towns were the nursery of freedom.”

Lord Acton Quote: “A man can be trusted only up to low-water mark.”

105. “A man can be trusted only up to low-water mark.”

Lord Acton Quote: “Writers the most learned, the most accurate in details, and the soundest in tendency, frequently fall into a habit which can neither be cured nor pardoned,-the habit of making history into the proof of their theories.”

106. “Writers the most learned, the most accurate in details, and the soundest in tendency, frequently fall into a habit which can neither be cured nor pardoned,-the habit of making history into the proof of their theories.”

Lord Acton Quote: “The test of liberty is the position and security of minorities.”

107. “The test of liberty is the position and security of minorities.”

Lord Acton Quote: “A history that should pursue all the subtle threads from end to end might be eminently valuable, but not as a tribute to peace and conciliation.”

108. “A history that should pursue all the subtle threads from end to end might be eminently valuable, but not as a tribute to peace and conciliation.”

Lord Acton Quote: “The man who prefers his country before any other duty shows the same spirit as the man who surrenders every right to the state. They both deny that right is superior to authority.”

109. “The man who prefers his country before any other duty shows the same spirit as the man who surrenders every right to the state. They both deny that right is superior to authority.”

Lord Acton Quote: “Piety sometimes gives birth to scruples, and faith to superstition, when they are not directed by wisdom and knowledge.”

110. “Piety sometimes gives birth to scruples, and faith to superstition, when they are not directed by wisdom and knowledge.”

Lord Acton Quote: “There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men.”

111. “There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men.”

Lord Acton Quote: “To develop and perfect and arm conscience is the great achievement of history.”

112. “To develop and perfect and arm conscience is the great achievement of history.”

Lord Acton Quote: “Every error pronounces judgment on itself when it attempts to apply its rules to the standard of truth.”

113. “Every error pronounces judgment on itself when it attempts to apply its rules to the standard of truth.”

Lord Acton Quote: “Many men can no more be kept straight by spiritual motives than we can live without policemen.”

114. “Many men can no more be kept straight by spiritual motives than we can live without policemen.”

Lord Acton Quote: “Many things are better for silence than for speech: others are better for speech than for stationery.”

115. “Many things are better for silence than for speech: others are better for speech than for stationery.”

Lord Acton Quote: “Fanaticism in religion is the alliance of the passions she condemns with the dogmas she professes.”

116. “Fanaticism in religion is the alliance of the passions she condemns with the dogmas she professes.”

Lord Acton Quote: “Far from being the product of a democratic revolution and of an opposition to English institutions, the constitution of the United States was the result of a powerful reaction against democracy, and in favor of the traditions of the mother country.”

117. “Far from being the product of a democratic revolution and of an opposition to English institutions, the constitution of the United States was the result of a powerful reaction against democracy, and in favor of the traditions of the mother country.”

Lord Acton Quote: “Liberty, next to religion has been the motive of good deeds and the common pretext of crime...”

118. “Liberty, next to religion has been the motive of good deeds and the common pretext of crime...”

Lord Acton Quote: “Judge not according to the orthodox standard of a system religious, philosophical, political, but according as things promote, or fail to promote the delicacy, integrity, and authority of Conscience.”

119. “Judge not according to the orthodox standard of a system religious, philosophical, political, but according as things promote, or fail to promote the delicacy, integrity, and authority of Conscience.”

Lord Acton Quote: “Machiavelli’s teaching would hardly have stood the test of Parliamentary government, for public discussion demands at least the profession of good faith.”

120. “Machiavelli’s teaching would hardly have stood the test of Parliamentary government, for public discussion demands at least the profession of good faith.”

Lord Acton Quote: “Though oppression may give rise to violent and repeated outbreaks, like the convulsions of a man in pain, it cannot mature a settled purpose and plan of regeneration, unless a new notion of happiness is joined to the sense of present evil.”

121. “Though oppression may give rise to violent and repeated outbreaks, like the convulsions of a man in pain, it cannot mature a settled purpose and plan of regeneration, unless a new notion of happiness is joined to the sense of present evil.”

Lord Acton Quote: “Government by idea tends to take in everything, to make the whole of society obedient to the idea. Spaces not so governed are unconquered, beyond the border, unconverted, a future danger.”

122. “Government by idea tends to take in everything, to make the whole of society obedient to the idea. Spaces not so governed are unconquered, beyond the border, unconverted, a future danger.”

Lord Acton Quote: “The passion for power over others can never cease to threaten mankind, and is always sure of finding new and unforseen allies in continuing its martyrology.”

123. “The passion for power over others can never cease to threaten mankind, and is always sure of finding new and unforseen allies in continuing its martyrology.”

Lord Acton Quote: “When the last of the Reformers died, religion, instead of emancipating the nations, had become an excuse for the criminal art of despots. Calvin preached, and Bellarmine lectured; but Machiavelli reigned.”

124. “When the last of the Reformers died, religion, instead of emancipating the nations, had become an excuse for the criminal art of despots. Calvin preached, and Bellarmine lectured; but Machiavelli reigned.”

Lord Acton Quote: “Be not content with the best book; seek sidelights from the others; have no favourites.”

125. “Be not content with the best book; seek sidelights from the others; have no favourites.”

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