Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.

Lord Acton

More information about this quote

Topic

Abuse of power Power Great men Corruption

Speaker

Lord Acton

Source

Letters of Lord Acton

Medium

Letter

Statement Type

Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Language

English

Time

1887 1880s 19th century

Occupation

Politician Writer

From

United Kingdom Europe

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Lord Acton. Letter to Archbishop Mandell Creighton. 5 Apr. 1887.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Lord Acton about abuse of power: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men…”
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A quote by Lord Acton about abuse of power: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men…”
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A quote by Lord Acton about abuse of power: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1880s

It would be hard to find a single instance of a direct assault by positive effort upon poverty, vice, and misery which has not either failed or, if it has not failed directly and entirely, has not entailed other evils greater than the one which it removed.

William Graham Sumner

Sociology

More information about this quote
Topic
Public policy Poverty

Author

William Graham Sumner
Source
Sociology
Medium
Essay
Genre
Sociology
Language
English
Time
1881 1880s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Sumner, William Graham. "Sociology." The Princeton Review, May 1881.

Another quote about Power

Power is the great aphrodisiac.

Henry Kissinger

Read this quote at the New York Times
More information about this quote
Topic
Attraction Power

Author

Henry Kissinger
Source
The New York Times
Medium
Newspaper
Language
English
Time
1971 1970s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Kissinger, Henry. Quoted in "Foreign Policy: Kissinger at Hub." Written by Hedrick Smith. The New York Times, 19 Jan. 1971.

Another quote of the following type Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.

William Blake

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Buy a book containing this poem at Amazon Buy a book containing this poem at Amazon
Read The Marriage of Heaven and Hell at Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Elegance of nature Birds Nature Limitations and constraints Human potential

Author

William Blake
Source
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
Medium
Poem
Genre
Philosophical literature
Statement Type
Proverbs, aphorisms and adages Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
English
Time
1793 1790s 18th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Blake, William. "The Argument." The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. c. 1790.

Current Citation

Blake, William. "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell." The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake, edited by David V. Erdman. University of California Press, 2008.