24
Jun
08

Lord Acton’s dictum

Taken from here :

“I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men with a favourable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption, it is the other way, against the holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.

See the lines printed in bold red ?

That’s one of my favourite quotes, for sure …


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