 Whenever a single definite object is made the supreme end of the State, be it the advantage of a class, the safety of the power of the country, the greatest happiness of the greatest number, or the support of any speculative idea, the State becomes for the time inevitably absolute.
Lord John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.
Lord John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton
...conscience imperatively demands a corresponding measure of personal liberty...With this no human authority can be permitted to interfere. We are bound to extend to the utmost, and to guard from every encroachment, the sphere in which we can act in obedience to the sole voice of conscience, regardless of any other consideration.
Lord John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton
http://www.geocities.com/rationalargumentator/Acton.html
...obscure ethics imply imperfect liberty. For liberty comes not with any ethical system, but with a very developed one.
Lord John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton
http://www.geocities.com/rationalargumentator/Acton.html
Liberty is the prevention of control by others. This requires self-control...
Lord John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton
http://www.geocities.com/rationalargumentator/Acton.html
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