Lord Acton Quotes

But constant experience shows us that every man invested with power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far as it will go.

Power is what men seek and any group that gets it will abuse it.

Power intoxicates men. It is never voluntarily surrendered. It must be taken from them.

Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many.

You can't trust anybody with power.

Authority poisons everybody who takes authority on himself.

Power is always a corrupting influence.

Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.

The least one can say of power is that a vocation for it is suspicious.

Power is always dangerous. Power attracts the worst and corrupts the best.

The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse.

There are two things that interest me - and they're both power, ultimately. One is not having it and one is abusing it.

Power, whether vested in many or a few, is ever grasping, and like the grave, cries, "Give, give!

Power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will be ever liable to abuse.

Experience constantly proves that every man who has power is impelled to abuse it.

Power corrupts; but absolute power is really neat.

The possession of power does not necessarily imply its unrighteous or oppressive use, although it generally awakes suspicion.

Abuse of power comes as no surprise

Politicians as a class are dangerous, that people who are seeking power over us are not, by definition, our friends.

Power without abuse loses its charm.

Unlimited power corrupts the possessor.

A good deal of tyranny goes by the name of protection.

Every one, more or less, loves Power, yet those who most wish for it are seldom the fittest to be trusted with it.

Power has long been regarded as morally corrosive, and we often suspect the intentions of those who seek it.

What I fear most is power with impunity. I fear abuse of power, and the power to abuse.