John Dalberg-Acton Quotes

John Dalberg-Acton

Profession : Historian

Birth : January 10, 1834

There is not a soul who does not have to beg alms of another, either a smile, a handshake, or a fond eye.

John Dalberg-Acton

Property is not the sacred right. When a rich man becomes poor it is a misfortune, it is not a moral evil. When a poor man becomes destitute, it is a moral evil, teeming with consequences and injurious to society and morality.

John Dalberg-Acton

The science of politics is the one science that is deposited by the streams of history, like the grains of gold in the sand of a river; and the knowledge of the past, the record of truths revealed by experience, is eminently practical, as an instrument of action and a power that goes to making the future.

John Dalberg-Acton

History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul.

John Dalberg-Acton

And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that.

John Dalberg-Acton

To be able to look back upon one's past life with satisfaction is to live twice.

John Dalberg-Acton

Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right to do what we ought.

John Dalberg-Acton

Learn as much by writing as by reading.

John Dalberg-Acton

A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.

John Dalberg-Acton

The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections.

John Dalberg-Acton

I'm not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.

John Dalberg-Acton

There are two things which cannot be attacked in front: ignorance and narrow-mindedness. They can only be shaken by the simple development of the contrary qualities. They will not bear discussion.

John Dalberg-Acton

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

John Dalberg-Acton

The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.

John Dalberg-Acton

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

John Dalberg-Acton

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.

John Dalberg-Acton

History provides neither compensation for suffering nor penalties for wrong.

John Dalberg-Acton

Liberty is the condition of duty, the guardian of conscience. It grows as conscience grows. The domains of both grow together. Liberty is safety from all hindrances, even sin. So that Liberty ends by being Free Will.

John Dalberg-Acton

Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.

John Dalberg-Acton

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

John Dalberg-Acton