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"The fate of every democracy, of every government based on the sovereignty of the people, depends on the choices it makes between these opposite principles, absolute power on the one hand, and on the other the restraints of legality and the authority of tradition."
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"Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good."

"There shall be no end to the government of God."

"There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you."

"The ugliest government is the one which is spreading fear to its own people! The finest government is the one which encourages its own people to criticize the government harshly."

"The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act. A general association takes place, and common interest produces common security."

"There is probably a perverse pride in my administration... that we were going to do the right thing, even if short-term it was unpopular. And I think anybody who's occupied this office has to remember that success is determined by an intersection in policy and politics and that you can't be neglecting of marketing and P.R. and public opinion."

"An ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination."

"Democracy is not so much a form of government as a set of principles."

"There are no doubts that western governments are willfully inducing radiation sickness into segments of their city populations."

"If you think of yourselves as helpless and ineffectual, it is certain that you will create a despotic government to be your master. The wise despot, therefore, maintains among his subjects a popular sense that they are helpless and ineffectual."
Explore more quotes by John Acton

"If the past has been an obstacle and a burden, knowledge of the past is the safest and the surest emancipation."

"By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes is his duty against the influence of authority and majorities, custom and opinion."

"The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities."

"Save for the wild force of Nature, nothing moves in this world that is not Greek in its origin."

"Liberty is the condition of duty, the guardian of conscience. It grows as conscience grows. The domains of both grow together. Liberty is safety from all hindrances, even sin. So that Liberty ends by being Free Will."

"Far from being the product of a democratic revolution and of an opposition to English institutions, the constitution of the United States was the result of a powerful reaction against democracy, and in favor of the traditions of the mother country."
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