John (Lord Acton) Acton :
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.
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Selfishness
 Acton_128x128.png "Quotations by John (Lord Acton) Acton")
Gift it
 Acton_64x64.png "Quotations by John (Lord Acton) Acton")
 Acton"e=There+is+no+error+so+monstrous+that+it+fails+to+find+defenders+among+the+ablest+men.+Imagine+a+congress+of+eminent+celebrities%2C+such+as+More%2C+Bacon%2C+Grotius%2C+Pascal%2C+Cromwell%2C+Bossuet%2C+Montesquieu%2C+Jefferson%2C+Napoleon%2C+Pitt%2C+etc.+The+result+would+be+an+Encyclopedia+of+Error.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F13192%2FJohn+%28Lord+Acton%29+Acton_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=53120&author=Cullen Hightower"e=We+may+not+imagine+how+our+lives+could+be+more+frustrating+and+complex--but+Congress+can.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F1823%2FCullen+Hightower_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=112663&author=Henry David Thoreau"e=One+cannot+too+soon+forget+his+errors+and+misdemeanors.+To+dwell+long+upon+them+is+to+add+to+the+offense.+Repentance+and+sorrow+can+only+be+displaced+by+something+better%2C+which+is+as+free+and+original+as+if+they+had+not+been.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F8209%2FHenry+David+Thoreau_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=19857&author=Georg C Lichtenberg"e=++It+is+a+question+whether%2C+when+we+break+a+murderer+on+the+wheel%2C+we+do+not+fall+into+the+error+a+child+makes+when+it+hits+the+chair+it+has+bumped+into.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F201%2FGeorg+Christoph_Lichtenberg_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=11697&author=Alexander Herzen"e=++It+is+possible+to+lead+astray+an+entire+generation%2C+to+strike+it+blind%2C+to+drive+it+insane%2C+to+direct+it+towards+a+false+goal.+Napoleon+proved+this.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F923%2FAlexander+Herzen_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=11703&author=Rebecca West"e=++Now+different+races+and+nationalities+cherish+different+ideals+of+society+that+stink+in+each+other%27s+nostrils+with+an+offensiveness+beyond+the+power+of+any+but+the+most+monstrous+private+deed.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F769%2FRebecca_West_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=83144&author=Milton Friedman"e=The+broader+and+more+influential+organisations+of+businessmen+have+acted+to+undermine+the+basic+foundation+of+the+free+market+system+they+purport+to+represent+and+defend.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F2351%2FMilton_Friedman_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=4576&author=Jim Rohn"e=++Failure+is+not+a+single%2C+cataclysmic+event.+You+don%27t+fail+overnight.+Instead%2C+failure+is+a+few+errors+in+judgment%2C+repeated+every+day.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F699%2FJim+Rohn_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=35970&author=Aldous Huxley"e=++So+long+as+men+worship+the+Caesars+and+Napoleons%2C+the+Caesars+and+Napoleons+will+arise+to+make+them+miserable.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F187%2FAldous_Huxley_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=58522&author=Aldous Huxley"e=To+his+dog%2C+every+man+is+Napoleon%3B+hence+the+constant+popularity+of+dogs.&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F187%2FAldous_Huxley_64x64.png){kind=link}
![Powerpoint](http://www.iwise.com/downloadPPT.php?quote_id=111728&author=Italo Svevo"e=Nella+mente+di+un+giovine+di+famiglia+borghese+il+concetto+di+vita+umana+s%27associa+a+quello+della+carriera+e+nella+prima+giovent%C3%B9+la+carriera+%C3%A8+quella+di+Napoleone+I.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F4606%2FItalo_Svevo_64x64.png){kind=link}
 Acton"e=I+cannot+accept+your+canon+that+we+are+to+judge+Pope+and+King+unlike+other+men%2C+with+a+favorable+presumption+that+they+did+not+wrong.+If+there+is+any+presumption+it+is+the+other+way+against+holders+of+power%2C+increasing+as+the+power+increases.+Historic+responsibility+has+to+make+up+for+the+want+of+legal+responsibility.+All+power+tends+to+corrupt+and+absolute+power+corrupts+absolutely.+Great+men+are+almost+always+bad+men%2C+even+when+they+exercise+influence+and+not+authority%3A+still+more+when+you+superadd+the+tendency+or+the+certainty+of+corruption+by+authority.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F13192%2FJohn+%28Lord+Acton%29+Acton_64x64.png){kind=link}
 Acton"e=Whenever+a+single+definite+object+is+made+the+supreme+end+of+the+State%2C+be+it+the+advantage+of+a+class%2C+the+safety+of+the+power+of+the+country%2C+the+greatest+happiness+of+the+greatest+number%2C+or+the+support+of+any+speculative+idea%2C+the+State+becomes+for+the+time+inevitably+absolute.+Liberty+alone+demands+for+its+realisation+the+limitation+of+the+public+authority%2C+for+liberty+is+the+only+object+which+benefits+all+alike%2C+and+provokes+no+sincere+opposition.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F13192%2FJohn+%28Lord+Acton%29+Acton_64x64.png){kind=link}
 Acton"e=Without+presuming+to+decide+the+purely+legal+question%2C+on+which+it+seems+evident+to+me+from+Madison%27s+and+Hamilton%27s+papers+that+the+Fathers+of+the+Constitution+were+not+agreed%2C+I+saw+in+State+Rights+the+only+availing+check+upon+the+absolutism+of+the+sovereign+will%2C+and+secession+filled+me+with+hope%2C+not+as+the+destruction+but+as+the+redemption+of+Democracy.+The+institutions+of+your+Republic+have+not+exercised+on+the+old+world+the+salutary+and+liberating+influence+which+ought+to+have+belonged+to+them%2C+by+reason+of+those+defects+and+abuses+of+principle+which+the+Confederate+Constitution+was+expressly+and+wisely+calculated+to+remedy.+I+believed+that+the+example+of+that+great+Reform+would+have+blessed+all+the+races+of+mankind+by+establishing+true+freedom+purged+of+the+native+dangers+and+disorders+of+Republics.+Therefore+I+deemed+that+you+were+fighting+the+battles+of+our+liberty%2C+our+progress%2C+and+our+civilization%3B+and+I+mourn+for+the+stake+which+was+lost+at+Richmond+more+deeply+than+I+rejoice+over+that+which+was+saved+at+Waterloo.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F13192%2FJohn+%28Lord+Acton%29+Acton_64x64.png){kind=link}
 Acton"e=There+is+no+worse+heresy+than+that+the+office+sanctifies+the+holder+of+it.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F13192%2FJohn+%28Lord+Acton%29+Acton_64x64.png){kind=link}
 Acton"e=Advice+to+Persons+About+to+Write+History+%E2%80%94+Don%27t.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F13192%2FJohn+%28Lord+Acton%29+Acton_64x64.png){kind=link}
 Acton"e=Liberty+is+the+prevention+of+control+by+others.+This+requires+self-control+and%2C+therefore%2C+religious+and+spiritual+influences%3B+education%2C+knowledge%2C+well-being.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F13192%2FJohn+%28Lord+Acton%29+Acton_64x64.png){kind=link}
 Acton"e=The+issue+which+has+swept+down+the+centuries+and+which+will+have+to+be+fought+sooner+or+later+is+the+people+versus+the+banks.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F13192%2FJohn+%28Lord+Acton%29+Acton_64x64.png){kind=link}