“Machiavelli's teaching would hardly have stood the test of parliamentary government, for public discussion demands at least the profession of good faith.”

—  John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton

The History of Freedom in Christianity (1877)
Context: Machiavelli's teaching would hardly have stood the test of parliamentary government, for public discussion demands at least the profession of good faith. But it gave an immense impulse to absolutism by silencing the consciences of very religious kings, and made the good and the bad very much alike.

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John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton photo
John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton 112
British politician and historian 1834–1902

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