“The principles which discriminate in politics between good and evil, and make states worthy to last, were not yet found.”

— John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton

The History of Freedom in Christianity (1877)
Context: That men should understand that governments do not exist by divine right, and that arbitrary government is the violation of divine right, was no doubt the medicine suited to the malady under which Europe languished. But although the knowledge of this truth might become an element of salutary destruction, it could give little aid to progress and reform. Resistance to tyranny implied no faculty of constructing a legal government in its place. Tyburn tree may be a useful thing; but it is better still that the offender should live for repentance and reformation. The principles which discriminate in politics between good and evil, and make states worthy to last, were not yet found.

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John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton 112

British politician and historian 1834–1902

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