• DigitalTraveler42@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    7 months ago

    Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely

    Lord Acton (1887)

    The full quote is pretty poignant as well:

    “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority.”

    Lord Acton had some pretty good bangers on this topic:

    “Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.”

    And:

    “Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.”

    Also:

    “Everybody likes to get as much power as circumstances allow, and nobody will vote for a self-denying ordinance.”

    Lastly:

    “Absolute power demoralizes.”