APAD: Absolute power corrupts absolutely

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely"

The proverbial saying 'power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely' conveys the opinion that, as a person's power increases, their moral sense diminishes.

Origin - the short version

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely" is the best known quotation of the 19th century British politician Lord Acton. He borrowed the idea from several other writers who had previously expressed the same thought in different words.

Origin - the full story-----read if you have time to spare

Absolute monarchies are those in which all power is given to or, as is more often the case, taken by, the monarch. Examples of absolute power having a corrupting influence are Roman emperors (who declared themselves gods) and Napoleon Bonaparte (who declared himself an emperor).

Lord Acton - the origin of
'Absolute power corrupts absolutely'

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely" arose as part of a quotation by the expansively named and impressively hirsute John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834–1902). The historian and moralist, who was otherwise known simply as Lord Acton, expressed this opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887:

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

The text is a favourite of collectors of quotations and is always included in anthologies. If you are looking for the exact "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" wording, then Acton is your man. He coined the phrase but he didn't invent the idea; quotations very like it had been uttered by several authors well before 1887. Primary amongst them was another English politician with no shortage of names - William Pitt the Elder, Earl of Chatham and British Prime Minister from 1766 to 1778. Pitt said something similar in a speech to the UK House of Lords in 1770:

"Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it"

'Absolute power...' is one of the language's best known proverbs.

Acton is likely to have taken his lead from the writings of the French republican poet and politician, again a generously titled individual - Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine. An English translation of Lamartine's essay France and England: a Vision of the Future was published in London in 1848 and included this text:

It is not only the slave or serf who is ameliorated in becoming free. The master himself did not gain less in every point of view, for absolute power corrupts the best natures.

Whether it is Lamartine or his anonymous English translator who can claim to have coined 'absolute power corrupts' we can't be sure. What we can be sure about is that it came before Lord Acton's more famous version. Whether Acton was aware of Lamartine's essay we can't now tell.

Conclusion

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely" is one of the proverbial sayings that seems to be proved correct by experience of people's actual behaviour.

It was coined by the English nobleman Lord Acton in 1857, using similar ideas expressed by several of his contemporaries.

所有跟帖： 

• 占位点赞，回头细看～～ -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 08:11:51

• Proven true time and again, unfortunately. -waterfowl- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 08:47:51

• That said, I wouldn't mind being corrupted once or twice :-) -7grizzly- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 08:59:37

• Amen to that. : ) -waterfowl- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 09:04:02

• it becomes unstoppable after the 1st time, -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 09:58:15

• 骑虎难下? Tiger riding might not be as fun as I think :-) -7grizzly- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 10:14:50

• Or you cannt enjoy enough -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 12:01:14

• 好帖子。像是一篇迷你小论文。漂亮！ -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 10:02:09

• Thanks for sharing, great proverb! -方外居士- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 10:19:47

• 是的，所以权力必须分散，相互牵制。 -Oona- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 13:39:47

• +1 不过我就是好奇中国长达2000年的封建时代，咋就没出个思想家想到这一点呢？ -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 15:35:31

• 中国封建2K年+儒学愚民才延续了大一统的中央集权帝国，否则可能就是中洲与欧洲一样同宗的多个小国，你倾向哪一种？ -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 16:40:00

• 如果从人本的角度，可能倾向于多个小国保留自己的各种不同的文化。 -Oona- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 17:24:42

• 站这里。：） -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 17:36:34

• 我在看这个帖子“哈马斯，一个把“恐袭”作成“生意”的组织”，不会是你写的吧？：） -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (220 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 17:37:38

• 我可懒得码这么多字，我觉得不是所有人都知道哈马斯是什么来头，与法塔赫都是巴勒斯坦内部组织，法塔赫消停后哈马斯崛起 -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 18:49:38

• 总得有人传承这门生意。什么主义宗教都是幌子 -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 18:50:26

• 冷和平，这个概念听起来很冷血。。是以无辜平民的生命为代价的。。 -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 18:55:46

• 我也是很奇怪：） -Oona- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 17:26:46

• 儒学思想根深蒂固，父父子子君君臣臣，灌输思想上的服从，至今仍然如此，我们这些出国后思想才变活得 -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 18:55:55

• human sins curse -TJKCB- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 15:57:04

• You hit the bullseye ~ ~ -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/10/2023 postreply 16:01:10

• 完全赞成。这也是美国立国之根本，国父们的深谋远虑，真是令人高山仰止！ -好個秋- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/11/2023 postreply 11:45:50