Lord Acton Quotes
No trusting without testing
{625555} is a Russian Proverb conveying the same idea.
John Emerich Edward Dalberg [Lord Acton], 1834-1902, English Historian and Member of Parliament (Liberal), Inaugural Lecture on The Study of History, Cambridge University, June 11, 1895
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Lord Action had a famous version of this sentiment—{625555}.
The President had taken a hard line against Iran developing the capacity for nuclear weapons even though some other nations in the world had nuclear capability. However the President and other leaders of Iran had already publicly stated that there should be death to the United States, that our ally Israel should be wiped off the map. Critics of the President claimed that these statements were just rhetoric that is part of the culture of Islamic politics and oratory. The president responded with this quotation. Before WWII Adolf Hitler had written Mein Kampf and wrote about everything that he eventually did causing death and destruction throughout the world. At the time he wrote these things few took him seriously.
The original charge of biological weapons was made by the Afghan Mudhjadeen, who had retrieved a substance from an area the Russians had shelled. Some Americans echoed the charges and upon inspection, the substance turned out to be bees wax and droppings. Some CIA officials thought that true of not, the charge amounted to good propaganda eliciting the ambassador’s response.
There is no written record of this speech nor any official eye wittness accounts. It is generally attributed however to Lincoln though some identify it with the famous promoter, Phineas Taylor Barnum, 1810-1891.
- Born: January 10, 1834
- Died: June 19, 1902
- Nationality: British
- Profession: Historian
John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, 13th Marquess of Groppoli, better known as Lord Acton, was an English Catholic historian, politician, and writer. He was the only son of Sir Ferdinand Dalberg-Acton, 7th Baronet, and a grandson of the Neapolitan admiral and prime minister Sir John Acton, 6th Baronet. Between 1837 and 1869 he was known as Sir John Dalberg-Acton, 8th Baronet.
