In every age its (liberty's) progress has been beset by its natural enemies, by ignorance and superstition, by lust of conquest and by love of ease, by the strong man's craving for power, and the poor man's craving for food
Lord ActonA government does not desire its powers to be strictly defined, but the subjects require the line to be drawn with increasing precision.
Lord ActonProperty is not the sacred right. When a rich man becomes poor it is a misfortune, it is not a moral evil. When a poor man becomes destitute, it is a moral evil, teeming with consequences and injurious to society and morality.
Lord ActonLimitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited.
Lord Acton