Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost
always bad men.
—Lord Acton, 1887
7
It is said that power ‘corrupts’, but actually it’s more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.
—David Brin, 1985
All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is
not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.
—Frank Herbert, 1985
Power dements even more than it corrupts, lowering the guard of foresight and raising the
haste of action.
—Will and Ariel Durant, 1975
Authority has always attracted the lowest elements in the human race. All through history
mankind has been bullied by scum.
—P. J. O’Rourke, 1991
The higher the ape climbs, the more he shows his naked rump.
—European proverb
No man can rule innocently.
—Louis Antonie de Saint-Just, 1792
***
The great mass of men are made by nature to be slaves, they are unfit to control themselves,
and for their own good need masters.
—W. Somerset Maugham, 1939
Nor should we listen to those who say, ‘The voice of the people is the voice of God’, for the
turbulence of the mob is always close to insanity.
—Alcuin, 800 AD
Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government.
—George Washington, 1786
8
The proposition, that [the people] are the best keepers of their own liberties is not true. They
are the worst conceivable; they are no keepers at all. They can neither judge, act, think, or
will, as a [political body].
—John Adams, 1787
9
7
This famous line is actually a shorter paraphrase of an earlier (circa 1770) aphorism by William
Pitt. In turn, it was repeatedly twisted later, including the notorious maxim “Absolute liberality
corrupts absolutely” by Gertrude Himmelfarb. (See also the next three quotes).
8
I still remember my shock at first reading this statement—by this author.
9
One more quote in the same spirit—from another Founding Father of the United States – also
from his private correspondence of course.
On Government and Politics
165
always bad men.
—Lord Acton, 1887
7
It is said that power ‘corrupts’, but actually it’s more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.
—David Brin, 1985
All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is
not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.
—Frank Herbert, 1985
Power dements even more than it corrupts, lowering the guard of foresight and raising the
haste of action.
—Will and Ariel Durant, 1975
Authority has always attracted the lowest elements in the human race. All through history
mankind has been bullied by scum.
—P. J. O’Rourke, 1991
The higher the ape climbs, the more he shows his naked rump.
—European proverb
No man can rule innocently.
—Louis Antonie de Saint-Just, 1792
***
The great mass of men are made by nature to be slaves, they are unfit to control themselves,
and for their own good need masters.
—W. Somerset Maugham, 1939
Nor should we listen to those who say, ‘The voice of the people is the voice of God’, for the
turbulence of the mob is always close to insanity.
—Alcuin, 800 AD
Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government.
—George Washington, 1786
8
The proposition, that [the people] are the best keepers of their own liberties is not true. They
are the worst conceivable; they are no keepers at all. They can neither judge, act, think, or
will, as a [political body].
—John Adams, 1787
9
7
This famous line is actually a shorter paraphrase of an earlier (circa 1770) aphorism by William
Pitt. In turn, it was repeatedly twisted later, including the notorious maxim “Absolute liberality
corrupts absolutely” by Gertrude Himmelfarb. (See also the next three quotes).
8
I still remember my shock at first reading this statement—by this author.
9
One more quote in the same spirit—from another Founding Father of the United States – also
from his private correspondence of course.
On Government and Politics
165