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on_holy_ground"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority." - Lord Acton
The problem with these kinds of things is that all to often they are taken completely out of context. People take a single thought from something and use it to their own advantage. They do not care if that was what the original author meant by the remark, as long as it furthers their own goals. History itself is full of inaccuracies for just this reason.
This particular cliché was part of a letter written by Lord Acton to the Bishop Mandell Creighton, in 1887. Acton had been asked by the Bishop to look over a history that he had written on the Popes, and Acton was not happy with what he had read. The Bishop could not seem to judge the Popes he had written about as men who were all subject to the same kinds of weaknesses. They were seemingly above regular people to Creighton, and he made no mention of the wrongs they may have committed, but instead spoke only of the good things that had come about under their leadership. In reality, Acton was not really saying that power would corrupt all who possessed it. Instead, he was pointing out his opinion that people who were in a position of power should be held to higher standards.
This quote today is generally used as a principle of personal morality. It insists that power will make someone a bad person, when in fact that simply isn’t true. If it were, then all people that are in a position of power would be corrupt, cruel, and morally ambiguous. While there are many examples of people that did do bad things with their power, there are also examples of people who did not let such things go to their head. George Washington for instance could have held the post of President of the United States for life, but he chose not to do so. He is only one of a great many examples of people who did not let such power hold sway over their actions.
Power may indeed cause some people to weaken and do bad things, but it is never an absolute. In the end, it is the heart of man that determines the course that will be taken, and not the power that man is given.
The problem with these kinds of things is that all to often they are taken completely out of context. People take a single thought from something and use it to their own advantage. They do not care if that was what the original author meant by the remark, as long as it furthers their own goals. History itself is full of inaccuracies for just this reason.
This particular cliché was part of a letter written by Lord Acton to the Bishop Mandell Creighton, in 1887. Acton had been asked by the Bishop to look over a history that he had written on the Popes, and Acton was not happy with what he had read. The Bishop could not seem to judge the Popes he had written about as men who were all subject to the same kinds of weaknesses. They were seemingly above regular people to Creighton, and he made no mention of the wrongs they may have committed, but instead spoke only of the good things that had come about under their leadership. In reality, Acton was not really saying that power would corrupt all who possessed it. Instead, he was pointing out his opinion that people who were in a position of power should be held to higher standards.
This quote today is generally used as a principle of personal morality. It insists that power will make someone a bad person, when in fact that simply isn’t true. If it were, then all people that are in a position of power would be corrupt, cruel, and morally ambiguous. While there are many examples of people that did do bad things with their power, there are also examples of people who did not let such things go to their head. George Washington for instance could have held the post of President of the United States for life, but he chose not to do so. He is only one of a great many examples of people who did not let such power hold sway over their actions.
Power may indeed cause some people to weaken and do bad things, but it is never an absolute. In the end, it is the heart of man that determines the course that will be taken, and not the power that man is given.
